The Region : 619 Area Code Phone Service Disrupted

Undefined switching problems caused intermittent service disruptions for about 800,000 Pacific Bell customers in the 619 area code, the telephone company reported. The outages, believed to originate in inter-area and local area switching equipment, affected 10% of Pacific Bell’s customers, company spokeswoman Lynn Jimenez said. She said the 911 emergency and the 411 information numbers were working, but the 611 repair number was jammed with callers and she advised against using it. Jimenez said people outside the area should avoid trying to dial the 619 area during the emergency period. The area affected is within an irregular boundary from San Diego north to Orange County and Mammoth Lakes on the east, and El Centro to the south. Jimenez said the system should be back to normal by this morning.