Perspective
IN RECENT YEARS, THE high demand for local exchange codes from incumbent local exchange carriers and new competitors has mandated scores of new area codes across the United States, created through processes that generate a high degree of local controversy. Yet even after the new area codes are created, the demand for exchange codes for local calling areas continues unabated, leading in some cases to the exhaustion of exchange codes within brand new area codes in as little as two to three years -- a period much shorter than their expected life.