With new Central Florida phone numbers in high demand, the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) today implemented a 689 area code to overlay the existing 407 area code. Beginning when the 407 area code numbers are exhausted, the 689 area code overlay will affect only new numbers and prevent any change to existing phone numbers.
“We’ve extended use of the 407 area code for as long as possible, but all available numbers are expected to be assigned within the next year,” said PSC Chairman Art Graham. “The North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) can now begin processing the 689 area code for efficient implementation when needed.”
NANPA is the neutral third-party administrator responsible for forecasting and planning for the exhaust of geographic area codes. An area code reaches “exhaust” when nearly all of the telephone prefixes within that area code are assigned. Prefixes follow the area code and are the first three numbers of a customer’s local phone number. Faxes, pagers, cell phones, ATMs, and pay-at-the-pump gas stations are just some of the ways phone numbers are being used.
The 407 area code serves Orange, Osceola, Seminole and parts of Lake and Volusia Counties in Central Florida. Calls within this area currently require ten digit dialing as a result of a limited area code overlay (321) approved by the PSC in 1998.
In 2001, NANPA petitioned the PSC to approve an overlay relief plan for the 407/321 Numbering Plan Areas (NPA), projecting their exhaust in late 2003. On March 25, 2002, the Commission approved the newly assigned 689 area code overlay to start on July 15, 2002. NANPA, however, later extended the estimated life of the 407/321 NPA, and the PSC suspended the 689 overlay implementation.
Because of its aggressive push for number conservation plans, the Commission delayed a new area code in the 407/321 NPA for 16 years.
For additional information, visit floridapsc.com.
