Michigan is running out of 313 phone numbers, wants to add 679 area code to Detroit area
New York City's 212 area code, 310 in Los Angeles, and 305 in Miami are often cited as the most "prestigious" three digits to precede your phone number.
But Detroit's 313 has also developed a certain cachet. It's become synonymous with a city known for its resilience and part of the city's brand, featured on T-shirts and even tattoos.
Now, the state is running out of 313 phone numbers and wants to overlay a new area code — 679 — for use in the city and some surrounding suburbs.
"The 313 area code is projected to be exhausted during the third quarter of 2025, which means most phone numbers within the area code are in use, with few to no new numbers available to assign, aside from those returned to the numbering inventory and reassigned through standard industry practice," the Michigan Public Service Commission said in a Thursday news release.
"That will require applying a new area code that will cover the same geographic territory of the 313 area code, without splitting the current area code boundaries or requiring a change of numbers for existing phone users by moving existing 313 phones to a new area code. Rather, current 313 numbers will remain in place while new phone customers in the same territory may be assigned numbers with the 679 area code."
The commission has scheduled a public hearing March 9, from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m., at Wayne County Community College's downtown campus, to take public comment on the proposed new area code. The meeting, conducted by an administrative law judge, will be held in the Frank Hayden Community Room.
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Written comments regarding the plan also may 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 should reference Case No. U-21337. A final commission order on the area code overlay is expected at the end of May.
The 313 area code covers Detroit, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Allen Park, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Ecorse, the Grosse Pointes, Inkster, Lincoln Park, Redford Township, River Rouge and Taylor.
Adding a new area code will mean phone users will have to start dialing the area code for local calls, even when calling from one 313 number to another, the commission said. But the calls will still be billed as local calls.
Detroit political consultant Adolph Mongo said he has a 313 area code and that "313 is Detroit."
The 313 area code used to extend into Oakland County and he remembers how many suburban residents were anxious to get the 248 area code when it became available. But now, many young people will say they are from Detroit, even if they live in nearby suburbs, he said.
"While Detroit has enjoyed a rejuvenation in the eyes of a lot of folks, we still get a smack in the face from time to time," Mongo said.
The 313 area code is one of the original North American area codes, created in 1947 and covered all of southeast Michigan and about one-third of the Lower Peninsula. Splits were approved to create the 810 area code in 1993 and the 734 area code in 1997. The 248 area code was created in 1997 and the 586 area code in 2001, both as splits from the 810 area code.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit could get new area code besides 313. Meet 679.
