DETROIT (WXYZ) — "The 313 is recognized as Detroit all over the country," said Robert Garcia, a Detroiter. And he's right and that's why there's no plan on the table to have anyone with a 313 area code phone number to switch to a new area code now that the 313 number combinations are running out.
The proposal by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) is to start using area code 679 when the 313 phone number combinations begin to run out in 2025.
Ryan McAnany, Telecommunications Division Director for the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), said it's likely that the commission will approve NANPA's proposal.
On Thursday, the MPSC held a hearing for the public to weigh in on the plan. Only one person commented with a suggestion to use numbers that were currently already in use.
The 313 area code coverage includes Detroit, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Allen Park, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Ecorse, the Grosse Pointes, Inkster, Lincoln Park, Redford Township, River Rouge, and Taylor.
Some 313 numbers may still be assigned after 2025 as residents and businesses move. Those old 313 numbers will be reassigned through standard procedures.
According to the MPSC, adding new 679 area code numbers will "require phone users to include area codes for local calls within and between the two area codes — meaning everyone with a 313 or 679 phone number will have to dial at least 10 digits, even for local calls. These calls will continue to be billed as local calls. This change will require the reprogramming of some devices such as auto dialing equipment, medical devices, and home security systems to accommodate the additional digits if that equipment is currently programmed to only dial 7 digits."
Written comments about the proposed plan can be submitted by 5 p.m. March 20, 2023, by mail to Executive Secretary, Michigan Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 30221, Lansing, MI 48909, or by email to mpscedockets@michigan.gov.
All comments will be included in a public case file and should reference Case No. U-21337.
The commission is expected to deliver an order on the plan by May 31, 2023.
