TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — If you live in North Florida and get a new number in 2021, you won't get an 850 area code. Instead, you'll have a number that starts with 448.

Tuesday, the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) approved a new 448 area code for the North Florida area now served by the existing 850 area code. The 850 area code region consists of 18 counties in the Florida Panhandle, including the cities of Pensacola, Panama City, and Tallahassee.

Expected to begin in mid-2021, the new area code 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.”

Creating an additional area code is known as an “all-services overlay.” New customers, or requests for additional lines, will be assigned the new area code. Existing customers will keep their current telephone numbers, including area code.

Once the overlay is fully implemented, all calls, including local calls, will require ten-digit dialing.

Before the announcement of the newest area code for the area, the 904 area code was used for all of North Florida until the PSC approved a split in the late-90s that brought the 850 area code to the Florida Panhandle, including Tallahassee.

The PSC exercises regulates state utilities in three key areas: rate base/economic regulation; competitive market oversight; and monitoring of safety, reliability, and service.

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