Goodbye, 850

448 area code to precede all new numbers

Savannah Reams
ECB Publishing, Inc.

On Tuesday, Nov. 5, the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) approved an area code overlay that will add a new 448 area code to the area now served by the existing 850 area code, including Jefferson County. The PSC's action was prompted by a high demand for new phone numbers in the Panhandle. The change is expected to begin in mid-2021 and the new area code overlay will affect only new phone numbers.
“Florida’s 850 area code is running out of telephone numbers, so this plan is needed to ensure a continuing supply of numbers,” said PSC Chairman Art Graham. “Now, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) can begin processing the new area code for efficient implementation in 2021.”
According to the PSC, new customers, or requests for additional lines, will be assigned the new area code.
Existing customers will keep their current telephone numbers, including the area code. Additionally, once the overlay is fully implemented, all calls—including local calls—will require ten-digit dialing.
The PSC asserts that 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. A growing population and new technologies that require telephone numbers continue driving the demand for new numbers.
The 850 area code region consists of 18 counties in the Florida Panhandle, including Jefferson.
For additional information, visit floridapsc.com.