Geary residents calling from landline phones will need to start including the area code for local calls beginning in late April.
The change comes as the state is preparing to introduce a new area code to central Oklahoma. The “overlay” area code, 572, will supplement the longstanding 405 area code and ensure the region doesn’t run out of phone numbers, officials said.
Starting April 24, locals with 405 area codes will need to use the full 10-digit number to complete their calls. The 572 area code will be introduced beginning May 24.
The 572 code will be available as an option for new customers, but residents who currently have 405 numbers will not need to change theirs. “Also, there will be no change in the local call boundaries,” the Oklahoma Corporation Commission said in a news release. “Local calls within the area will remain local calls, regardless of whether the number called is a 405 or 572 area code.”
Central Oklahoma becomes the second area in the state to supplement its area code and require 10- digit dialing. After years of being served only by the 918 area code, the Tulsa and northeast Oklahoma areas added the 539 code in 2011.
The 405 area code covers a large swath of central Oklahoma including Oklahoma City, Norman, Stillwater and southern Blaine County.
Oklahomans living within the 580 service area will now be the only ones not required to use 10-digit dialing. The 580 code is used in Watonga and other parts of western and southern Oklahoma.