THE Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) recently assigned a central office code (a number block which contains 10,000 telephone numbers) under Jamaica’s new area code, “658”.

“The OUR assigns central office codes to telecommunications service providers who then distribute the telephone numbers within a particular code to customers, as needed. The recent assignment became necessary as the OUR has run out of codes to assign under the 876 area code,” said a release from the OUR.

According to the OUR, this means that 10-digit 658 telephone numbers will now become available to the public once telecommunications providers have fully allocated the numbers available to them under the 876 area code. It said the last seven digits of those telephone numbers may match the last seven digits of numbers previously assigned by operators under the “876” area code.

Said the release: “The OUR is reminding everyone, including business operators and advertisers, to ensure that the 10-digit format is used in the publishing and displaying of all local mobile and landline numbers using the correct area code for each number, ie 876 or 658. Persons are also urged to adjust the way they record or store phone numbers, to make it clear which area code is applicable to their telephone numbers.”