HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Approved in March by the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC), Hillsborough County is officially getting a new area code. Taking the county from the 813 to the 656.
But, the change will not impact everyone.
Anyone who currently has an 813 number will stay the same, while new customers or customers adding additional lines to their plan will be issued 656 area codes.
“656 is easy to remember, and customers will also find the approved overlay plan easy to implement,” PSC Chairman Gary Clark said. “Existing telephone numbers will not change, and the six-month permissive dialing period will allow time for customers to adjust to 10-digit dialing. It is critical that businesses and individuals have access to new phone numbers when they need them, especially during the current emergency.”
In order to prepare, PSC is asking residents to make sure items like life safety systems and medical monitoring devices, fax machines, safety alarm and security system call forwarding settings, voicemail services, and others are all programmed correctly.
The change in area code stems from April 2019, when NANPA forecasted a need for 813 area code relief.
Anyone looking for more information about the area code changes can contact PSC’s customer assistance line at 1-800-342-3552.
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