Beginning next year, you’ll have to dial all ten digits, including the area code, to place even local phone calls. The change comes ahead of the rollout of a new area code for the area which will go into effect in March, the Tennessee Public Utility Commission has announced.
Greene County is in the 423 area code region in eastern Tennessee that will add 729 as a second area code that will be used in the same region.
The Tennessee Public Utility Commission says that Effective August 5, 2024, dial the area code + telephone number whenever you place a call, including calls within your same area code. If you forget and dial just seven digits, your call will still be completed.
Beginning February 5, 2025, you must dial the area code + telephone number on all calls, including calls within your same area code. On and after this date, if you do not dial the area code + telephone number, your call will not be completed, and a recording will instruct you to hang up and dial again, including the area code.
Beginning March 5, 2025, new telephone lines or services may be assigned numbers with the new 729 area code. If you have a number in the new 729 area code, you must dial the area code + telephone number or the call will not complete.
Existing telephone numbers, including current area code, will not change, as the new area code will be assigned only to new numbers. The price of a call, coverage area, or other rates and services will not change due to the overlay.
The addition comes to meet demand for new telephone numbers which are assigned to more than just telephones. A number can be assigned to iPads, tablets, mobile Wi-Fi devices, fax machines, alarm systems, medical alert systems, and even smartwatches may have a ten digit code assigned to them. As a result, each area code can have a little over 6.3 million different phone numbers.
When area codes were first introduced in 1947, the entire state of Tennessee was 901. In 1954, 615 was introduced for the eastern two-thirds of the state – everything east of the Tennessee River – while the western part of the state retained 901. That remained the state’s area codes for 41 years until 423 was introduced in 1995. Within three years, as cell phones and pagers gained in popularity, that area code was on the bring of being full. With the Knoxville area being designated as 865 (VOL on the keypad), the Tennessee Regulatory Authority decided that the Tri-Cities area was not large enough for its own area code, nor could it be included with the new area code for the Knoxville area. As such, two non-contiguous areas became 423 – Tri-Cities and the Chattanooga area.
The ten-digit dialing requirement has been in place in the 865 area code since 2021.
