SaskTel Minister Bill Boyd today announced that the Canadian Numbering Administrator (CAN) which assigns phone number blocks and area codes in the country has advised that Saskatchewan is running out of 306 phone number blocks and will need to add a new area code. This is a result of our growing population, an explosion of cellphone numbers and more competitive carriers operating in Saskatchewan.
The CAN has indicated Saskatchewan's 306 area code is expected to exhaust its supply of telephone numbers by May 2013.
"This is one more sign of the tremendous growth our province is now enjoying," Boyd said. "As prosperity brings more people and more companies to our province we are committed to changing and keeping pace with our new realities."
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which provides the regulatory oversight for the process, will issue a Telecom Notice of Public Consultation. No decisions have yet been made on how the new area code will be implemented. A Relief Planning Committee will be formed, which will analyze all options and develop a recommendation for the implementation of a new area code in Saskatchewan. Included in the options analyzed by the committee will be a geographic split or a provincial overlay of a new area code. The new area code will be confirmed after the CRTC has approved the Relief Planning Committee's recommendation.
