You will soon be dialing a new area code when calling someone in southeastern Pennsylvania, but, despite some confusion, it won't happen this weekend.
Customers getting new phone numbers in Philadelphia and parts of Berks, Bucks, Lehigh, and Montgomery counties will soon be assigned the area code 445.
That's because the pool of numbers in 215 and 267 area codes are running low.
But the chance is not going to happen before March 3, at the earliest, according to the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commision, the state agency which oversees telecom services.
Some Verizon customers received text messages Tuesday announcing the new area code. It included a link to a map listing a Feb. 3 launch date.
Public utilities commission spokesman Nils Hagen-Frederiksen said it's unclear where Saturday's date came from, but that the numbers won't be doled out before at least March.
Customers with existing 215 or 267 area codes, which were put into service in 1947 and 1999 respectively, won't be impacted by the addition which was initally announced in 2016.
People with 445 area code numbers will need to use 10-digit dialing outside of typical three-digit public service numbers like 911 and 411.
