The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a plan for a new ‘overlay’ within the existing 814 area code region which will eventually establish a second area code for new phone numbers.
When no more 814 phone numbers are available, the new area code will be assigned to customers in the 27-county region in central and northwest Pennsylvania. Existing 814 phone numbers will be preserved and the second area code will ensure a supply of phone numbers for decades.
“First and foremost, it is important for residents and businesses throughout the 814 area code to understand that there will be no change in their telephone service,” PUC Chairman Gladys Brown Dutrieuille said in a statement. “The proposal approved by the Commission today ensures that customers currently using 814 telephone numbers will keep their existing numbers, and the PUC is launching a yearlong education campaign to help everyone prepare for a second ‘local’ area code in the region.”
Eventually, residents within the region will switch to 10-digit calling, in which callers will be required to first dial the area code before the seven-digit phone number for all calls. To help residents and businesses adjust, PUC will undertake an education campaign in May.
On Oct. 1 callers will be encouraged to voluntarily start 10-digit dialing for calls in the 814 area code.
Ten-digit dialing will be required for all calls beginning April 1, 2021, and the new overlay area code will be placed into service on May 1, 2021.
The 814 area code is the largest geographically in the state and the only one that still allows for seven-digit dialing.
Phone numbers will not be assigned the new area code until all 814 numbers are exhausted. The new overlay area code will be announced by the third-party North American Numbering Plan Administrator for Pennsylvania. It is projected to provide a stock of phone numbers for the region for 67 years.
Established in 1947, 814 is one of Pennsylvania’s four original area codes and the only of those to not undergo any form of area code ‘relief,’ either through a geographic split or through an overlay. The Federal Communications Commission mandates that states implement a relief plan when an area code is about to exhaust its available numbers.
In addition to most of Centre County, the 814 area code includes all or portions of Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Fayette, Forest, Fulton, Huntingdon, Indiana, Jefferson, McKean, Mercer, Mifflin, Potter, Somerset, Tioga, Venango, Warren and Westmoreland counties.
Map of current area codes.
