The explosion of cellphones will mean a new area code for Northeast Florida. | Richard Drew, AP
Published on January 23, 2024 at 11:02 am
You’ll need to start dialing an area code when you call someone beginning next week, even if it’s a local call.
That’s because 10-digit phone dialing will become mandatory in Northeast Florida as the region prepares for a new 324 area code, according to the state Public Service Commission.
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Voluntary 10-digit dialing has been in place since August, but it will become mandatory Monday.
“My hope is that residents and businesses have had plenty of time to reprogram contacts and equipment,” commission Chairman Mike La Rosa said in a prepared statement. “With the February launch of the new 324 area code quickly approaching, mandatory 10-digit dialing is necessary for two area codes to service popular Northeast Florida.”
The 324 code will launch Feb. 26 for all new cellphones, landlines and other devices in the area currently covered by the 904 area code.
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State regulators approved the change in May 2022 because cellphones and other devices continue to gobble up existing numbers.
The plan involves what is known in the telecommunications industry as an “overlay.” An area code will be added to the same territory covered by the 904 area code, with new customers receiving the new code. People already using the 904 area code will keep their numbers, but 10-digit local dialing will be required.
The 904 area code, which covers all or most of Nassau, Duval, Baker, Bradford, Clay, St. Johns and Union counties, has been projected to run out of numbers this year. It has been used since 1965.
