Arkansans will ring in 2024 with a new 327 area code scheduled for implementation across most parts of the state.
The new area code will be implemented Jan. 19 in all areas now served by the 870 area code — including El Dorado, Jonesboro, Magnolia, Monticello, Mountain Home and Pine Bluff. Central and Northwest Arkansas are not included in the change.
The Arkansas Public Service Commission originally approved the overlay district in 2009 but then delayed implementation in 2012.
Callers in the region will have a transition — called a “permissive dialing period” — beginning Friday to test the system and become more familiar with the change. Beginning Feb. 20, 2024, new telephone lines or services may be assigned numbers with the 327 area code.
Customer impact should be minimal. All existing 870 area code customers will retain their current area code in the overlay area and their telephone numbers will not be changed. However, the 327 overlay will require 10-digit dialing for all local calls.
“In the 870 area code, on July 21 callers can make calls using either seven digits or 10 digits,” Elana Foley, director of telecommunications and consumer services at the public service commission, said Friday. “We have the permissive dialing period for about six months and after that it will be mandatory to dial 10 digits.”
The North American Numbering Plan Administrator works with phone providers and regulators across the nation to monitor the assignment of phone numbers and decides when new area codes are needed as local numbers are depleted. The planning administrator estimates that any given area code can handle about 10 million numbers and that phone numbers in the 870 code will dry up by the first quarter of 2025.
The area-code overlay is a common mechanism and protects customers with 870 area codes, allowing them to keep their phone numbers and avoid rebranding costs related to signage and advertising.
“They are routine, required by the growing demand nationwide for telephone numbers,” Scott Morris, a spokesman for Windstream Holdings Inc., said Friday.
Windstream offers local telephone service in the region and service areas in the overlay, including exchanges in Amity, Bearden, Berryville, Carthage, Crossett, Cove, Daisy, Dalark, Delight, De Queen, Dierks, Elaine, Gillham, Glenwood, Green Forest, Harrison, Hatfield, Horatio, Fordyce, Leola, Leslie, Lockesburg, Marshall, Mount Ida, Murfreesboro, Norman, Oak Grove, Oden, Okolona, Prattsville, Rudd, Sheridan, Sparkman, Swifton, Texarkana, Tuckerman, Umpire, Wickes, Wilmot and Witts Springs.
A new dialing procedure for the commission-approved overlay plan will require 10-digit dialing for local calls. During the permissive dialing period, local calls can be made with either seven or 10 digits, and all calls that are in the 870 area code will continue to be local even though callers dial 10 digits.
Beginning Jan. 19, callers in the 870 area code will be required to dial the area code plus the telephone number on all calls, including calls within the current 870 region.
“The switch to 10-digit dialing will not affect the cost of local phone calls,” Morris said. “A call that is local today will be a local call after the dialing change. Emergency calls to 911 also remain the same and do not require the area code.”
The commission originally adopted an overlay plan for the 870 area code in December 2009 but delayed implementation because of the effectiveness of conserving telephone numbers.
“Administrators and others involved were able to get some telecommunications providers to donate some of their unused numbers back to the system, and that was the reason for the delay,” Foley said. “Those conservation efforts were very helpful.”
Arkansas has two other area codes — 501 in Central Arkansas and 479 in Northwest Arkansas.
