Hillsborough County gets new area code
May 8, 2020 - A second area code has been assigned to Hillsborough County as well as part of Pasco County and Oldsmar in Pinellas County. The Florida Public Service Commission said the 656 area code will cover the same geographic boundaries as the current 813 area code. The second area code was approved in March by the Florida Public Service Commission. Existing customers will keep their numbers, but as 813 area code numbers are exhausted, new customers, or customers adding additional lines, will receive the new 656 area code, the PSC said in a news release. Everyone will have to dial the area code plus the seven-digit phone number to make local calls. The new area code likely won’t start to be assigned for a couple of years, in the third quarter of 2022, when the current supply of available 813 area code numbers is expected to run out, the PSC said previously.