A new area code is being added to the 217 territory in central Illinois.
The area code will be 447. The Illinois Commerce Commission says new phone numbers with the new area code won’t start until after March 29, 2021.
Current phone customers will keep 217.
The 217 area code covers 36 counties in Illinois and includes Springfield, Champaign, Urbana, Decatur, Danville, Quincy and Rantoul.
The new 447 area code will “overlay” the existing 217 area code to address the depletion of prefixes available for assignment within the region.
While many individual 217 telephone numbers remain unassigned, an area code is deemed to be “exhausted” when the last available prefix has been assigned. While 447 telephone numbers will begin to appear in 2021, there will continue to be an ongoing supply of available 217 telephone numbers in most areas.
Prior to the assignment of numbers in the new area code, customers in the 217 area code will have a six-month period time, between August 29, 2020 and February 27, 2021, to adjust to dialing the additional digits to complete their calls, prior to it becoming mandatory. During this period, consumers are encouraged to update their contact lists and auto dialers to include the 10-digit number. After February 27, 2021, all calls must be dialed with the Area Code + Telephone number.
