The Illinois Commerce Commission says it will begin rolling out a new area code for the central Illinois region.
Beginning Saturday, the commerce commission will begin what it calls an “overlay”, where two area codes are given for one region. In this case, it will be 217 and 447 area codes.
After February 27th, area residents who have come accustomed to making local calls with only seven digits will have to dial 10 digits instead. In order to call our radio stations, for example, you will have to dial 217-442-1700 instead of simply 442-1700.
Current telephone numbers will not change. Overlying area codes are fairly common. New York City has seven different area codes.
