Tax Season Deadline Signals Start of 10-Digit Dialing in the Keys

A new area code, 786, or SUN, has been introduced in the Keys, along with its existing 305 area code, in an overlay implementation plan approved in July 2014 by the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC). Needed due to the Keys’ growing population and increased use of multiple phones, especially wireless devices, the new area code extends the supply of available telephone numbers when 305 area code numbers are gone.

The 786 area code covers the same geographic boundaries covered by the Keys’ current 305 area code. Existing telephone customers will keep their numbers, but on April 18, 10-digit dialing is required. On June 1, 2015, telephone numbers with 786 will be issued in the Keys.  Calls to 911 or 411, and their costs, will not change.

“For the past nine months, we have helped prepare residents and businesses for the change to 10-digit dialing needed for the additional area code,” said PSC Chairman Art Graham. “Since the Keys are a Florida tourist destination, it’s especially important to businesses and their customers that existing telephone numbers will not change.”

The PSC has urged Keys’ residents to be ready for 10-digit dialing by revising printed materials, updating directory listings, and reprogramming systems and equipment to include area codes. New area code preparation suggestions are also posted on the PSC’s website under Utility Regulation, “Facts on Recent FPSC Decisions” and on the home page under Hot Topics. 

Phone numbers in Florida and throughout the United States are governed by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA).   NANPA originally estimated that the Keys 305 area code would be exhausted in the third quarter of 2001. Due to the PSC’s pro-active number conservation measures, the exhaust date was consistently extended, delaying the need for another Keys area code for 14 years. In May 2014, NANPA sent the PSC a revised exhaust date of second quarter 2015 for the 305/786 numbering plan.

For more information about the area code changes, residents can contact their local telephone carrier or call the PSC’s toll-free consumer assistance line at 1-800-342-3552.

For additional information, visit www.floridapsc.com.

Follow the PSC on Twitter, @floridapsc .