WPBN: Many people’s local calls will soon have three extra digits thanks to another new area code coming to East Tennessee.
To make all local calls, TDS stated that as of February 5, users must use the 423 or 729 area code, which entails dialing ten digits. On or after that date, attempting to dial seven digits will result in a message and the call not going through.
New phone lines will be allocated to the 729 area code on March 5. Additionally, those who have the new area code will have to dial 10 digits for local calls.
911 and other special purpose numbers, such as 311 or 988, are unaffected by the change, according to TDS.
The 423 area code region is getting a new area code, 729. Those counties include Morgan, Scott, Campbell, Claiborne, Hancock, Hawkins, Hamblen, Greene, Cocke, Monroe, McMinn, Rhea, and Meigs counties, among others in the WBIR viewing region.
The Chattanooga and Johnson City regions, as well as the Moores Camp and Fork Mountain parts of Anderson County, are also included. Early next year, the purple-shaded areas below will be subject to the new area code.
Nothing is changing with your number if you have an area code of 423. The 423 area code is expected to run out of numbers by the end of 2025, according to the Tennessee Public Utility Commission, which is why the new 729 area code was required.
After it is activated, new numbers in those areas will be linked to the 729 area code.
The new 729 area code will soon require residents in the 423 region to dial the entire 10-digit number in order to make any local calls.
The new area code regulations will force 10-digit dialing in almost all of East Tennessee. Knox County and the surrounding counties are part of the 865 area code region, which was subject to mandatory 10-digit dialing by the Federal Communications Commission in 2021.
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Those who have lived in East Tennessee for decades should recognize the area code change. The Eastern Grand Division was assigned a new area code, 423, in the mid-1990s after decades of the whole eastern half of the state being under the 615 area code.
After just a few years, the 423 area code was on the verge of running out of digits, thus Knox County and the surrounding counties were given the new area code 865 in 1999.
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Fans of the Vols who missed that transition may find this interesting: there is a secret in the 865 area code. The region was experiencing a surge of Tennessee enthusiasm in 1999, as you may remember, following the Vols’ first national football title in over thirty years.
When it came time to allocate the new area code, the state took care to select “865,” which, if you look at the phone keypad, seems to be “VOL.”
