It’s election season, and the Kentucky Public Service Commission is on the road with a campaign of its own. The PSC has meetings this week in Bowling Green and Elizabethtown to explain to the public why western Kentucky needs a new area code and what options exist.
One solution is an overlay that would create a second area code of 364 within the current 270 territory. That would allow wireless and landline customers to keep their current 270 number, but they would have to dial ten digits for local calls.
The second option is a split, which would also assign area code 364 to a portion of the current 270 territory. In that case, customers would still use seven-digit dialing for local calls, but about half of the customers would have to change their numbers.
Western Kentucky is projected to run out of available 270 numbers by early 2014, due to population growth and the increase in digital devices.
The PSC will decide which route to go by the end of this year.
A public meeting will take place Monday night in Bowling Green at Greenwood High School. Tuesday night, PSC members will be in Elizabethtown at the Community and Technical College. Both meetings start at 6pm, local time.