WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission Thursday designated 811 as the dialing code for utility one-call centers, leaving only 611 as the only unassigned three-digit number.
When Congress passed the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002, it told the FCC to designate a three-digit dialing code for one-call centers.
The U.S. Department of Transportation created 71 one-call centers in 1994. The FCC said, “an estimated 40 percent of the incidents in which underground pipelines and other facilities were damaged were caused by those who did not call before digging.”
The other assigned codes are 211 for non-profit information and referral services, 311 for non-emergency calls, 411 for directory information, 511 for traffic information, 711 for TTY services and 911 for emergencies.
There has not been a request for nationwide assignment of 611, said Jeffrey Carlisle, chief of the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau.
