Detroit will get another area code before the end of 2025
The city will run out of available 313 numbers by 2027. New phone customers will be assigned 679 numbers starting in November.
Detroit’s iconic area code is getting some company.
The Michigan Public Service Commission says the city and adjacent suburbs will run out of available 313 numbers by the end of 2027.
When that happens, new phone lines will start with 679. The new area code will share the same space as 313.
Ryan McAnany directs the MPSC’s telecommunications division. He says 679 will not replace 313, and people with 313 numbers will not have to change them.
“Everyone that is a 313 customer or has a 313 telephone number, nothing will impact them,” he said. “The 679 area code overlay will impact only new customers.”
The MPSC previously said that the number of unassigned 313 numbers would be exhausted this year.
Read more: Detroit could run out of 313 phone numbers, new 679 area code proposed
Dialing extra digits
One thing will change: people with 313 numbers will eventually need to dial 10 digits — including the area code — to make local calls.
Starting April 7, customers will have six months to adjust.
“They don’t have to start calling 10 digits on April 7,” McAnany said. “They still can call the seven digits, but we’re trying to get the word out to customers that this change is happening, and it will be mandatory starting Oct. 7.”
Although the new 679 area code officially begins in November, McAnany says it might take a couple of years to catch on. But the number of available 313 numbers is dwindling.
“Right now, the projection is fourth quarter of 2027,” he said. “But that end date is a moving target, so it all just depends on how many numbers are being requested.”
McAnany says the changes will not result in higher phone bills.
“As far as calling rates, nothing will change,” he said. “Local calls will still be the same. There will not be any additional charges to that, and long distance will be the same.”
Area codes through the years
The 313 area code was established in 1947 as part of the North American Numbering Plan. It originally covered all of southeast Michigan, including Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint and Monroe.
As the region’s population grew, so did the demand for new phone lines, as well as pagers, fax machines, and dial-up internet modems.
In 1993, a new area code — 810 — was created for areas north of the city, including Oakland and Macomb counties. Within a few years, they received their own area codes — 248 for Oakland County in 1997, and 586 for Macomb in 2001.
In 2002, Oakland County got a second area code — 947 — which covers the same area as 248.
Ann Arbor, Monroe, and most of the Downriver communities have been in the 734 area code since 1997.
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