February 24, 2021 – By: Ross Brown -WDAN/WDNL/WRHK/VermilionCountyFirst.com
For more than a half-century, anyone making a landline phone call in central Illinois has only had to type seven digits into their phone. But on February 27th, that will change, as a new area code will be introduced to the area, 447.
George Light of the Illinois Commerce Commission says the 217 area code is running out of three-digit prefixes that are assigned to local communities. He says the change was first proposed in 2001 but the commission has worked to hold off on it until now.
With the advent of cell phones and voice-over-internet, or VoIP, thousands of new numbers have been assigned to central Illinois. Light says that has led to a reduction of smaller communities being associated with one telephone prefix and, in turn, less opposition to changing the dialing procedure.
So what will happen if a person tries to dial a 217 number without the area code after the switch is made?
Light says that the second area code, 447, will be introduced as soon as March 2nd. He noted many larger cities in the country, including Illinois, have more than one area code. Chicago, for example, has three different area codes (312, 773 and 872).
