Planning Letter 398

As directed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), relief for Ontario area code 705 will be provided through a distributed overlay of new area code 249, which is scheduled to begin 3/19/11.

Overlay Timeline:

• 9/19/10 – Central office codes within NPA 249 may be assigned to Telecommunications Service Providers (TSPs) – but may not be activated prior to the 3/19/11 relief date.
• 11/15/10 –
  ~ Start date for network testing (test numbers available through April/May ‘11).
  ~ Recommended date by which all international and domestic Telecommunications Service Providers should ensure the new 249 NPA is activated system wide.
• 1/15/11 – Calls dialed with 7-digits will receive an announcement advising the number dialed must be preceded by its area code and that their call will now proceed (will be connected).
• 3/5/11 - Mandatory 10-digit dialing begins. Calls dialed with 7-digits will connect to a similar announcement as above, however, the call will not be connected; instead, the caller will be instructed to redial using the area code. This announcement will remain until replaced by "a standard network announcement" phased in mid-June ’11.

Dialing Plan for Calls Originating in NPA 705 and 249:

• Local and Extended Area Service = 10-digits (NPA-NXX-XXXX)
• Toll and Alternatively Billed = 10-digits after the appropriate prefix digit(s).

A map showing geographic areas served, test numbers, as well as additional details are available at www.nanpa.com.