The Illinois Commerce Commission has announced a new area code is coming to southern Illinois.
The new 730 area code will “overlay” the existing 618 area code to address the depletion of prefixes available for assignment within the region.
The first prefix in the new area code will not be introduced until after July 7, 2023.
The 618 area code covers all or parts of 37 counties in Illinois and includes communities such as Alton, Belleville, Cairo, Carbondale, Centralia, E. St. Louis, Edwardsville and Marion.
The 618 area code is one of the original, eighty-six area codes in the United States, assigned by Bell Laboratories in 1947. It has not undergone any substantive changes to its boundaries since then.
Starting on July 7, 2023, customers in the 618 area code overlay region may be assigned a number in the new 730 area code when they request new service or an additional line.
Customers receiving the 730 area code will be required to dial 10 digits for all local calls, just as customers with telephone numbers from the 618 area code do today.
