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As change is finalized, few problems reported with 575 area code(Las Cruces Sun-News (NM) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 7--LAS CRUCES -- If, in the past couple of days, you were trying to reach grandma in Hobbs or your son in Raton or your best friend in Socorro, but you got an error message, you may not have received word about Sunday's mandatory switch to the 575 area code for much of the state. Teresa Campbell was one Las Crucen who heeded the message to change to 575. "I did it automatically, I think," Campbell, 57, said as she held up her cell phone. "I did it and I told everybody." Those who didn't remember to make the switch were greeted with an error message. "The area code you have dialed, 505, has been changed to 575. Please try your call again with the new area code," was the message that greeted telephone customers as of 12:01 a.m. Sunday, when the change became official. The 575 area code became permanent for Dona Ana County and most of New Mexico -- with the exception of Albuquerque, Santa Fe and the northwest quadrant of the state, which kept the 505 code. State officials reported few problems Monday with the state's new are code. Paul Carbajal, spokesman for the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, which regulates telecommunications in the sate, said that by Monday afternoon the agency had received about two dozen reports of problems with the new area code. "We're happy with it. We anticipated a lot more," Carbajal said. "... We were working with the telecommunication companies day-in and day-out, making sure that this was going to go smoothly. We anticipated that there were going to be some hiccups here and there. And that's not to say that there isn't going to be any tomorrow or the rest of the week." Most of the problems were reported from the southeast part of the state, where some telephone customers were not receiving incoming calls with the new code, Carbajal said. There was also a minor issue in the Albuquerque area where a telephone company mistakenly sent e-mails and other communications to customers in the Albuquerque area, informing them that their area code was now 575. Campbell said she had a few issues, too. "At first they did, but not recently," Campbell said of others trying to reach her with 505. "But it has not been a problem." The change was partially instituted a year ago with a transitional period, during which numbers in the 575 area were reachable using 505 or the new code. With the transitional period now over, the 505 area code no longer works in areas slated for the 575 code. Jose Medina can be reached at [email protected]; (575)541-5447 To see more of the Las Cruces Sun-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lcsun-news.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |