WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Palm Beach County will soon get another area code.
The Florida Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved a plan that will give the county a second area code sometime next summer.
The new area code has not been announced as of now, but it will have the same geographic boundaries as the previous area code, The Associated Press reports.
The county had used 561 for almost 25 years. The agency cited growing population and new technologies requiring phone numbers for making the change.
Only new lines will be affected by the change or customers adding additional lines, a news release from the Public Service Commission reports.
“Palm Beach County continues to prosper, with a growing population and thriving business community, so it’s no surprise that a new area code is needed,” PSC Chairman Gary Clark said in a statement.
“A nice feature of the overlay plan is that current customers can keep their existing number. This is especially important to area businesses.”
PSC approved a nine-month implementation schedule to help prepare customers for the coming change.
According to the AP, there will also be a workshop on Dec. 21 to talk about a proposal to add another area code in Miami-Dade and the Florida Keys, PSC says.
Florida's Panhandle recently added a 448 area code and Central Florida got the area code 689 in 2019, AP reports.
Palm Beach County originally shared Miami-Dade's 305 area code but switched in 1988 to 407 before getting its own area code in 1997.
The state currently has 22 area codes.
