Maine regulators probe ‘dwindling’ 217 area code numbers

(The Center Square) – Maine regulators are investigating why telecom giant Verizon is running out of “207” area code numbers to assign to new landlines in the state.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission said the state’s 207 area code could be exhausted by 2024. The regulatory agency said based on a review of requests for new telephone numbers through Verizon from January 2020 through June 18, 2021, the commission “has reason to question the company’s forecasting process for numbering resources.”

PUC Chairman Philip Bartlett said the data suggests that Verizon “may be using unrealistic forecasting goals, unnecessarily tying up available phone numbers.”

“Maines 207 area code is dwindling rapidly, and while there may be a time when Maine has to accept a new area code, it would be a shame for one company’s practices to hasten that time if it has no actual need for the numbers,” Bartlett said in a statement.

Maine is one of a handful of states with only one area code, and over the past quarter century “207” has become a nostalgic part of the Pine Tree State’s identity.

State regulators said recent “mitigation strategies” in collaboration with carriers have freed up more than 600,000 new 207-based telephone numbers for the state’s available pool. There are about 8 million numbers available using the 207 code.

“While these efforts have kept Maine’s overall number utilization at 37%, the forecasted – rather than actual – use of both block and code resources by Verizon may negate all number conservation efforts by the commission and trigger a new area code for Maine earlier than expected,” PUC regulators wrote.

The PUC also has requested that the Federal Communications Commission direct the North American Numbering Plan Administrator to report on the technical, operational and costs of providing more numbers using the 207 area code.

Regulators have given Verizon until August 17 to respond to the investigation and provide requested data on the company’s numbering process.

Meanwhile, the state Public Advocate’s office is weighing into the investigation, filing a request to intervene in the regulatory case on behalf of telecom consumers.

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