From...

October 29, 1998
Web posted at: 12:00 PM EDT

by Maryann Jones Thompson

(IDG) -- The dramatic growth in online usage during the 1990s helped spur an explosion of new area codes, which caused headaches for telephone companies and consumers alike. The industry is searching for ways to "conserve" numbers: If the U.S. continues at the rate it's going - about 30 new codes per year - the nation will run out of new area codes by 2025, according to the North American Numbering Plan Administration.