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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Making local telephone calls will require three extra digits starting March 1.
The Utah Public Service Commission is urging 801 dialers to start using the full 10-digit numbers now to get ready for the change. It will add a 385 area code inside the same Wasatch Front region, from Ogden to Payson.
Callers will have to dial 1 before the area codes only for long-distance calls.
Commission spokeswoman Julie Orchard says the new area code is needed because growth has exhausted the available 801-area phone lines. The change will apply to both land lines and mobile phones.
Orchard says automatic dialing equipment will need to be reprogrammed. That includes fax machines, call forward settings, voice mail services, Internet dial-up numbers, alarm and security systems, life safety systems and more.
The rest of Utah is covered by the 435 area code. That will remain unchanged.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
