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                              Before the
                  Federal Communications Commission
                        Washington, D.C. 20554


In the Matter of                         )
                                    )
New York Department of Public Service         )        NSD File No. L-98-03
Petition for Expedited Waiver of              )        
47 C.F.R. Section 52.19(c)(3)(ii)             )


                                ORDER

Adopted:  December 4, 1998                Released:  December 4, 1998  

By the Chief, Network Services Division:

  1.   On July 20, 1998, the Common Carrier Bureau (Bureau) granted a temporary waiver to
the State of New York Department of Public Service (NYDPS) of the ten-digit dialing requirement of
the Commission's rules governing area code relief.  The temporary waiver period permitted an
activation of 646 as an all-services area code overlay in the 212 Numbering Plan Area (NPA), but
allowed a temporary delay of mandatory ten-digit dialing until 347 was activated as an all-services
overlay NPA for the 718 area code, but in no event later than April 1, 1999.  On November 6, 1998,
the NYDPS requested that we further extend the temporary waiver period.  In this Order, we extend
the waiver period until April 15, 2000, for the reasons indicated below.

  2.   In its letter of November 6, 1998, NYDPS has advised us that implementation of 646
as an overlay NPA for the 212 NPA will not be complete until July 1999, and the 347 NPA overlay is
not expected to be introduced in the 718 NPA until October 1999.  None of the factors that led to our
grant of a temporary waiver in the July 20 New York Order have changed, except for the schedule of
area code relief in the 212 and 718 NPAs.  The NYDPS's November 6 letter requests a delay in
implementing ten-digit dialing from the proposed date of area code relief equivalent to that which we
granted in the July 20 New York Order; that is, approximately three months from the date of the
implementation of the 347 NPA overlay in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island.

  3.   Bell Atlantic, however, is concerned with major network modifications taking place
within several weeks of January 1, 2000.  Bell Atlantic states that it has a network stability period
that extends for several weeks before and after January 1, 2000, intended to isolate, and resolve, any
Year 2000 problem that may arise.  We share Bell Atlantic's concern with the Year 2000 problem,
and agree that its network stabilization period is prudent given the uncertainties associated with the
Year 2000 problem.  In a letter dated November 25, 1998, the NYDPS advised that it and Bell
Atlantic have arrived at a tentative schedule for introducing area code relief to the 212 and 718 NPAs
which takes into account Bell Atlantic's network stability period.  The schedule calls for mandatory
10-digit dialing in the 212/646 area by December 1, 1999, and mandatory 10-digit dialing in the
718/347 area by April 15, 2000.

  4.   Given our findings in the July 20 New York Order, which we held justified a
temporary waiver of ten-digit dialing requirements, and the potential complications occasioned by
activating new area codes near January 1, 2000, we extend the temporary waiver until April 15, 2000,
for both the 212/646 and 718/347 overlay areas.

  5.   Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to section 52.19 of the Commission's rules,
47 C.F.R.  52.19, and by the authority delegated in sections 0.91 and 0.291 of the Commission's
rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.91 and 0.291, that the NYDPS may activate 646 as an all-services area code
overlay in the 212 NPA, and 347 as an all-services area code overlay in the 718 NPA, 


but delay, temporarily, implementing ten-digit dialing in all the NPAs at issue until no later than April
15, 2000.
                           
                      FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



                      Anna M. Gomez
                      Chief, Network Services Division
                      Common Carrier Bureau