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Soaring demand for phone numbers in Alberta has prompted a consortium of wireless operators to add a fourth provincial area code, set to be added to the dials this spring.

Beginning April 9, the new 825 area code will be added to the existing trio of numbers — 403, 780 and 587 — in order to keep up with an ever expanding need for phone numbers.

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The Western Telecommunications Alliance, made up of Canada’s major wireless providers — Telus, Rogers, Shaw and Bell — secured the new area code to ensure individuals and businesses in need of new phone numbers won’t be left in the cold.

Approved by Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, the new area code will open up as many as seven million new number combinations for Alberta residents.

Telus spokeswoman Liz Sauvé said times have changed from the days where every family just had one household phone.

“A lot of families these days have half a dozen phone numbers to their names,” she said.

“We’re just trying to stay ahead of the demand here.”

Sauvé said the new area code, just like when 587 was introduced to Albertans in 2008, will be introduced gradually as residents and businesses sign up for new numbers.

As well, she noted, there are always some who want to be ahead of the curve.