First Name Last Name City Comments to the PSC

Anita Prather Harvell Sackets Harbor

You missed another viable option. Move cell phones to a different area code and extend the use of 315 to landlines (residential and businesses). That growth is much smaller and will create viable options. Most cell phone carriers have free or discounted cellular calling between providers so the cost to cell customers is much less than businesses calling different area codes in an overlay.

Mr. Robin Curris Chaumont

You bumbling clowns at the PSC need to do something worthwhile and positive like closing down the outdated nuclear plant(s) on Lake Ontario. These are an accident just waiting to happen. Does upstate NY really need a Chernoble? How about reducing my electric bill in half,instead of turning tail and running away from the real issues?Power companies and their plants should be NON-profit,PERIOD. You really want to do a public service instead of doing nothing as it is now; take away ALLtake home vehicles in the NYSDOT. How many MILLIONS of dollars would that save monthly and it would even reduce my taxes. But these suggestions make sense, so I'm positive you won't do a thing about it. Your greedy and without conscience. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Robert Schell Oswego

Would it be possible to assign a separate area code Fort Drum and other transient to the train's similar institutions that do not depend upon an area code to identify your location?

Martin Gaines Norwood

With the portable phone number I believe that area codes are no longer relevent. My son now lives in Florida and still had his original phone number he has always had. So unless there is a real need for geographical area codes, then an overlay would be the cheapest way to go. Also I do not like the survey questions because I really do not care what my area code is as long as I do not have to change my phone numbers.

Julie Jenkins Brasher Falls

With the addition of cell phones, and the movement of those phones throughout the country - all while retaining the same phone number, it seems beyond ridiculous to split a geographic area and impose unkown costs to people and businesses to make a switch. If we do in fact need a new area code, then an overlay would be the most reasonable option to ask of people.

With an overlay, the PSC has the option of using the new numbers or squeezing out the 315 area code a little longer. Either way, the overlay will be in place and ready to be used. With mobile phones being more prolific, using 10 digits instad of 7 makes no difference. Plus, we often need to dial the area code even when calling within the 315 region. So really, what's the difference?

R Shankar Subramanian Potsdam

While individuals using phones that can store numbers and dial at the touch of a button may not mind dialing an area code in addition to the number, people like myself who use an ordinary land line would find it cumbersome to have to dial an area code every time for a local phone call. For this reason, I request that either nothing be done right now, or if something has to be done, to make a change such that people in the (315) area code can continue to make local calls just using seven digits. Thank you.

Kathy Snell Potsdam

We have had our area code for over 30 years. Changing would be very confusing-especially for elderly relatives. Just assign a new area code to NEW phone users. They haven't yet set a phone number for business and private contacts. It would also be less costly to those of us with the 315 code.

Lori McRitchie Hastings

we have been through it before. lived in dutchess county when changed from 914 to 845. it is not that big of a deal. change is going to happen, stop fighting it.

Betty Rusho Clayton

we don't need to change area code 315 very unecessary as my children are all out of state so are some of my friends whom know only 315 for this area

Nancy Mills Ogdensburg We also have a business

Melissa Barnard Central Square VOTE NO!

Genine Gehret DeKalb Jct.

Use an overlay for new numbers in order to inconvenience no one who already use 315 numbers.It's also cheaper.

Genine Gehret DeKalb Jct.

Use an overlay for new numbers in order to inconvenience no one who already use 315 numbers.It's also cheaper.

Geraldine Fink Waatertown

Time consuming to change phone number with every account or business company that we do business with.

Wellesley Island

This will happen eventually, so let's please just get it over with now. Since original area codes were created, we have never split or overlaid an area code in the North Country. I find any business that complains about this to be poorly managed and unable to assume basic marketing costs that are assumed when running a private enterprise.

Leonard Hass Central Square

This will cost people, regardless of how it is completed. In my opinion, the cleanest way to do this is to split the area into two area codes, not an overlay.

Joseph Whittaker Martville

This is NOT needed there are thousands of non used dead phone #"s.....I have found that people also have phone #'s they do not ever use but have to have as to their phone contracts so the phone companies are a BIG part of this MESS.

Bob Hostetter Canton

This is not a big deal. Do an overlay and no one loses their number. With the memory storage in most phones and voice retrival of stored numbers this is a non issue. The only hardship will be if numbers are changed rather than an overlay. We are one of the last areas in the country where one doesn't have to dial ten digist for every call.

david stacy canton this is just way to raise more hidden taxes

Larry Emmons Massena The top of the state has always been ignored. Leave us alone. We don't do well with change.

Barbara Perry Norwood

The problem with overloading the 315 area code, I believe, is caused by the influx of cell phones. There are so many, as most families have several. A good cure would be to create an area code for cell phones only. Instead of 315, it could be 235 (CEL). Makes perfect sense to me. That way, the new area code would be easily remembered.

The Buffalo-Rochester area split into different regions years ago. They all learned to live with it. Why are we so different? Splitting area code regions would mean additional costs for businesses because they would have to have new business cards, stationary, etc. This would be a one time thing. We have gone from paper and pencil to electronic correspondence in just a few years, yet there are still folks without computers and smart phones. Why should this be different? Are we so stuck in our old ways that we cannot change and embrace something new/different? It would be an additional way to show the North Country is truly separate from the rest of Upstate New York. I am all for St. Lawrence county getting a new area code!

Lindsey LoParco Canton Thank you for considering my input.

Karen Rickard Watertown

Splitting the area code will cause me to have charges when I call a relative who previously lived in the 315 area and you have deemed it necessary to make them live in another. You pay the fee!

John Meyers Potsdam

some of the questions above did not have enough choices, so some of the answers are irrelivant. I have printed signs and printed material for two businesses with my 315 business phone number printed on them. It would cost me several thousand dollars to change these. I think businesses should be allowed to keep their existing 315 numbers, and an additional area code be used for residential customers, and businesses that want to switch.

Paul DeShane Canton

Since our county (St. Lawrence) has nearly the same population it had 100 years ago, I doubt we will run out of numbers to assign in the 315 area anytime soon.

please keep the legislators out of this and let the appropriate public service staff determine if a change is needed

Nichole French Harrisville

Please do not force people to change their numbers when they have done nothing wrong. This means informing friends, family, changing medical paperwork and documents, along with stationary or if you run a business paying a web technition to change your website information along with any social media accounts that have your information about your business. For business that have already strongly advertised, this means changing all marketing materials along with any TV commercials and paying for new production, Just have new phones have a new area code and be done with it, this would have zero affect on the new numbers. As people slowly started to change numbers, try to designated the 315 code for one area (St Lawerence, Jefferson) and the new area code for the other area to eventually in 20 years, have a balance. Eventually you will be able to balance out the two area codes then phone numbers are freed on on their own terms. Thank Patti Richie and to her staff reading and sorting these comments!

Scott Wilhelm Lisbon

Our area is hit hard enough economically. Adding this to it would continue to put our economy into a hole that we cannot afford. This would be better for an area like Syracuse to deal with considering their economy is strong enough to bounce back from.

Of course I would prefer that my number would be the 315 area code, but even if I had to change area codes, I would rather have it split then overlay. It's a really large area for one code and would, in the long run, be simpler, more logical and easier to use if the area was split into two sections. The longer we wait to do this, the more difficult it is. If it had been done originally, less people and numbers would have been involved and we would be used to it. If we start now and plan it before crisis time, it will be a lot easier for businesses to accommodate the change.

Mark Reynolds Watertown No new area code

Diane Medvitz Syracuse

My mother went through this and has to dial 10 digits to call the woman next door. There has to be a better way.

Keith Wells Mexico

My main objection is the likely added expense of changing phone numbers, as well as being charged extra for calling outside the native area code. This is what happens in the large cities with multiple codes - charges for long distance.

Linda VanAlstine Lyons Falls

My brother in central Ohio had to change area codes several years ago and they are in the process of doing so again. When I am there I don't hear anyone complaining about getting a new area code. We can do it with no problem.

Bennett Hirsch Brasher Falls

Most of us are used to adding the area code when we use our mobile phones. An overlay would be the way to go.

Guy Rocca PYRITES Look at who is going to profit from this change. We do not need this!

robert tebo oswqegatchie leave ours them same please

Thomas Hitchcock Liverpool Leave landlines at 315 & assign new A/C to cell phones

Paul Ferguson Watertown

Land lines are dying off..so many "new" locals have different area codes anyway.Been through the change several times in other areas of the country..it's a major hassle.

Donald & Loretta Cooke Ogdensburg keep our 315 area code

steven marcinkowski theresa

just look at the rochester area years back when theyndid the same thing. they split the 716 area code and made the rochester area went to 585.

Just hurry up and do it. Quit blocking progress!

John Bang Chaumont

I've had my phone number for the house since 1973, and my business phone since 1995. If those numbers were to change it would be devastating.

Penny Schwandner Chaumont

I've had my main number for 10 years. Everybody from my doctor, businesses, etc know my number. If my area code were to change, it would cause a huge inconvenience for all.

Lorne MacDonald Richville ive grown up with the same phone number... 30 years. i plan on keeping it

Catherine LaPointe Potsdam

It's hard enough trying to establish a small business without suddenly losing the phone number you've taken such pains to keep consistent

David Schryver Dexter

It would make sense that the most populated region area within the new area code regions would retain the 315. We will adapt to the change quickly. Continuing to put it off is not solving anything.

Charlene Allen DeKalb Junction

It would be a financial burden on current business in St. Lawrence County, which is already burden with high unemployment, rampant drug use problems, our youth leaving the are, among many other things. Using the overlay should only affect new numbers.

Elizabeth Patterson Potsdam

It seems to me the most sensible option is to split off the greater Syracuse area, where the greatest population resides. I would draw the line at the southern Oswego county border; everything north stays 315, everything south is the new number.

It is not an inconvenience. This is the only area I have lived where there was not 10-digit dialing. How about spending your valuable time on a more pertinent issue like helping bring more employers to CNY. Fighting this issue just makes us look like a backwater area.

Frederick Gerloff Watertown Is there a Prefix number that could be used e.g. (315) 444-5555.

Debra Der Copenhagen

In Lewis County there are lots of elderly people. I personally feel that changing the area code would be a hardship that these seniors do not need. I realize there are seniors everywhere but living in a rural area puts added stress on them. Also I feel that adding another area code will end up costing us more. We will no longer be able to make calls to the whole 315 area without fees. It costs people in Lewis County more money just to have a phone compared to city people. Please don't make it any harder for folks to live in this area.

Stella Todd Heuvelton

in a family emergency how many people are going to remember al the numbers to be pressed. The list people would have to keep to make sure they dial the correct number so they don't end up calling a out of state or even a out of the country number by mistake.This whole idea is foolish.Tell them no again Senator Ritchie.Thank you

Tara Dolan Troy

I'm responding on behalf of my mother, who lives in Colton. This change is good in theory, but there are too many factors that make it illogical (people too used to 315, businesses, etc.). 315 covers a broad area, just like 518. Speaking strictly from my own perspective, landlines are becoming less used here (Capital Region) as more people use cell service and said cell service is more reliable than in the upper regions of 315. If cell service was improved up there, fewer people would rely on landlines and therefore the phone number issue would be lessened. Just something to think about. For the record, I grew up in Potsdam and lived there until 2004, when I moved to Colton before leaving the area for good in 2005.

Lisa Hillard Massena

I'm originally from NJ. We went through this a bunch of years ago. New area codes are really not that big a deal. Companies need ample time to make any changes, like 4 months. Make sure its well advertised before the change begins, and have a transition period where callers receive a message saying the area code will be (and then later has) changed. Overlay plans, however, can be very confusing, and tend to be more difficult for folks to grasp. Either way, the big issue is making sure that it won't now be long distance to call between the area codes.

Julia Rapczynski Colton

If we really need another area code, which we might with all of the cell phone usage, then splitting the area will be less confusing than the overlay to me. It may be confusing at first but then will become the norm. Hopefully the phone companies can have messages that explain that a new area code has been implemented. This will help out during the first months of change.

Ed Wentworth Oswego

If the phone company would not charge long distance charges made to new area code it may work. It would cost too much time and money to change my business number to new area code.

Robert Gilmer Lisbon If something is not broke, don't fix it!!!

Rae Hesseltine Ogdensburg

If local business have to change their 315 it would add additional cost to change on stationary and other forms.

Linda Dittrich Watertown

IF it is necessary to change the area codes, then I believe we should just bite the bullet and change the code for a portion of the North Country. There will be some cost involved but will be less confusing than the overlay proposal.

I would support a new area code by county or region. I think all keeping 315 and then the person next door having a different area code is senseless. My paretns lived in virginia when a new area code was assigned and it worked quite well by dividing the area.

Anthony Diagostino Massena I usually dial with 10 digits anyway so it wouldn't be that much of a change to have an overlay.

William Martin Oswegol I think the new area should consist of Jefferson and St. Laurence counties.

I lived through this more than 15 years ago in NJ. It isn't a big deal. Stop trying to be some big talking politician and just get this done. It is inevitable. Want to do something useful? Work helping all of the meth and heroin addicts who are dying left and right. Having to dial three extra numbers isn't a big deal. Find another way to make yourself useful to the people of this state. This is a non-issue. How about prison reform? That might be a good one considering we've got two criminal on the loose in this state, terrorizing citizens throughout. Hopefully, I've given you some good ideas. Now get started.

Christopher Knapp Watertown

I live and work in Jefferson County. Changing the area code now is better than waiting. We will run out of numbers as population continues to increase and younger and younger people. Seperate Syracuse/Utica/Rome from the smaller northern counties. That way, the impact will be smaller based on the number of businesses. Nobody remembers phone numbers anymore. we program them in our smartphones or google them.

Penny Parish Carthage

I know the rate of phines have increased, but I'm wise enough to know there is a way around anything...

Kathleen Killeen Theresa I heard there were plenty of numbers in area code 315 still available.

Don Schneider Massena

I have lived in Houston where Overlays are used. NO PROBLEMS EXCEPT EVERYONE MUST DIAL ALL 10 digits every time you call ANYBODY.

Leon Wells Gouverneur

I have had the same phone number for 17 years and am not willing to change it so that people can roll in and out of cell phone numbers like yesterdays news paper.

martin Morrison Watertown

I have family in Watertown and Syracuse, which are still in the 315 area code at this time. I think it would be very inconvenient to have to dial 10 or 11 digits everytime I wish to speak with my children. Plus, I suspect there would need to be changes in phone numbers that make it more difficult for elderly citizens who often have home phones and would be required to switch the contact information for many people with whom they regularly communicate.

Susan Maxfield Brasher Falls

I feel we have had the 315 area code a long time and why should our area change it? How about doing it in NY city instead.

Chad Platten Oswego

I feel that splitting would be the best choice. I think the route that Buffalo and Rochester took worked well for them and I believe it would work well for us. I honestly think that based on the maps that I have seen, keeping Syracuse in 315 and splitting the northern portion away makes the best sense. Everyone can keep their same local code and we don't all have to dial additional numbers to order a pizza or call a neighbor.

C Kulpa boonville

I dop nopt feel an additional area code is necessary siince there are so many unassigned numbers available.

Kathleen Bouchard Ogdensburg I don't understand the need for this as many have no land line and are choosing cell phones.

Krista Larock OGDENSBURG

I don't think we are actually going to run out of numbers. Old numbers that are no longer being used should be given out. I also don't see why we couldn't just create new exchanges for new numbers rather than a new area code.

Norm Conger Pulaski

I don't think the population of the area has grown enough to warrant adding a new area code. I believe other options need to be pursued before this is put into effect. People come to remember area codes of where people live and suddenly changing the area code impacts many more people than those just living within the confines of the area code itself.

Diana Heald DeWitt

I don't know if it still happens but I remember that a certain minimum number of phone numbers are given out instead of just handing someone just the numbers they ask for. So if this is true and the FCC stops doing this, I'm sure we will have more numbers than we need for a long while.

I don't care who ends up with the new number in the long run a geographic split makes more sense. The inconvenience of a split it shortlive the overlay implications last forever.

Gerald Castle Massena I do not wish to dial anymore numbers then necessary to reach my party.

Kim Toomey Brasher Falls I do not want a new area code.

Lance Evans Watertown

I am not sure we need the new area code. As people give up landlines, the number of phones will vary. If we need to do a new area code, however, I think it would be better to split than to overlay. It helps the region's identity.

I am all for the overlay plan and a new area code

Thad Kimple Carthage

I am a small business owner and I use my phone number extensively for advertising. I also have it on my vehicles and trailer in graphics form. Any changes to the number means extra expense and the difficulty of informing current and future customers of the change. I am convinces that forcing a change in area code willl result in lost business and revenu.

Eileen Soika Pulaski

Here we go again! Having even part of the area switch area codes is going to create havoc. This doesn't even take into consideration for consumer who would have to submit a different area code for their current phone number to family, friends, doctors, and businesses. What about the elderly? Whatever the decision, let's not make this issue one we have to revisit every 2-3 years.

Kenneth Hubbard Pulaski

growth in the 315 area code does not support creation of a new area code at this time. It would impose unnecessary burdens on businesses and individuals to change numbers with their various contacts.

c lall adams For once, do the taxpaper friendly thing

David Taylor Wellesley Island

Don't really have enough information. If not cost prohibitive I would think and overlay of a new one for new phones would cause the least amount of problems for everyone.

Annamarie Zizzi Liverpool dont need it

Barry Chalk Fishers Landing Don't mess with it!!!

Charles Schumann Ogdensbury Do not like the new plan.

Lisa Mahon Dexter DO NOT GET A NEW AREA CODE!!

Christopher Corriveau Lisbon

Create a new area code and add 10 digit dialing for all calls. This is the simplest and most cost effective solution. In Canada, all major cities have 10 digit dialing. People will get used to it.

Scott Peer Oswego Change is inevitable people need to get over it.

Thomas Rivet Heuvelton At the rate people are leaving and companies are failing, the 300,000 will grow much larger.

Sandra Kerr Chase Mills

As a senior citizen, the task of informing each business, doctor, plus friends of a new phone number is overwhelming. They gave my aunt a new area code, a year later my mother died and I couldn't reach her. The phone company quits informing folks using the wrong area code after that.

John Johnson-Eilola Saint Regis Falls An overlay would affect any current customers.

Wil Neves Massena

After a switch is made, should the whole area just switch so you're not dialing 10 numbers to call across the street?

Connie Elen Oswego

Add ing or splitting a zip code is easy as it is not programed into one's life as much as a phone number. I can see confusion for folks that have landlines and long distance costs. Cells usually have long distance charges built in. Depending on the location of the phone company and rural conditions it might costs such as with TDS or Frontier and other small companies that already restrict calling areas and add the long distance charges on.

Bob Crowe Canton

A well planned splitting of the current area covered by 315 would be much more palatable. If the announcement came a year prior to the split becoming effective, businesses could prepare more readily when ordering stationary, advertising, etc. If the area with the changed area code could dial either area code for that year (i.e. call forwarding from the old number to the new number) but recieve a message that the area code had changed, it would be much less disruptive. I have to believe that the phone companies have the technology to do something like this. I think having to remember which area code your neighbor or the police department or the fire department have is more of an inconvenience than everyone getting a new area code would be. Giving businesses and institutions a year or more to prepare to cut over to a new area code would soften the economic blow significantly. I hope that you strongly urge the PSC to choose the split should the addition of a new area code become inevitable.