Link between area codes, locations may be severed

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski wants to change the rules of the telephone numbers game, according to commission officials.

Chairman Genachowski began circulating a series of proposals among fellow commissioners that could make it easier for VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) providers to tap the national telephone numbers pool and eventually sever the relationship between an area code and an actual geographic area, the sources said. The proposals respond to calls by VoIP providers who do not like having to go through a phone-company middleman to get telephone numbers for customers. Numbers may seem prosaic, but they are dear to people’s hearts and a valuable commodity. While some of these changes are already taking place in the marketplace, Chairman Genachowski thinks that modifying the rules can open the door for more services and increase competition, commission aides explained.