The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today acted to ensure that telephone numbers continue to be available to meet the demand in the geographic region served by the 213 and 323 area codes by approving a third area code (called an overlay) that will provide additional numbering resources while minimizing customer inconvenience. The new area code to overlay the 213 and 323 area codes is 738.
The 213/323 area code serves downtown Los Angeles, Alhambra, Bell, Bell Gardens, Beverly Hills, Commerce, Cudahy, Glendale, Hawthorne, Huntington Park, Inglewood, Lynwood, Maywood, Montebello, Monterey Park, Pasadena, Rosemead, South Gate, South Pasadena, Vernon, West Hollywood, and unincorporated portions of Los Angeles County. It is projected to run out of available prefixes (the first three numbers after the area code in a telephone number) by June 2025. The CPUC’s action today approves the request of the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, the neutral third-party area code relief planner for California, for an area code overlay to provide additional numbering resources to meet the demand for telephone numbers.
An area code overlay adds an additional area code to the geographic region served by the existing area code(s). Therefore, multiple area codes co-exist within the same geographic region. Existing 213/323 customers will retain their area code and specific telephone number(s). Customers will continue to dial the three-digit area code for all calls to and from telephone numbers with the 213, 323, and 738 area codes. The price of a call will not change due to the overlay. Customers can still dial just three digits to reach 911, as well as 211, 311, 411, 511, 611, 711, and 811.
Below are some tips to help prepare for the area code overlay:
- Contact security or alarm vendors to update dial-up numbers to avoid a break in security routines and contacts.
- Reprogram equipment or features, i.e., automatic dial, speed-dial, call forwarding, modems for computer or Internet dial-up access, etc.
- Update items like stationery, checks, etc., to include your area code + telephone number.
- Provide your area code and telephone number, not just the telephone number, as needed.
- When asking for someone’s number, remember to ask for the area code too.
- Remember that the previous area codes and the new area code will co-exist within the same geographic region.
The 213 area code was created in 1947 and was one of the original three area codes in California. The 213 area code was split five times between 1951 and 1991, creating the 714 area code in 1951, the 805 area code in 1957, the 818 area code in 1984, the 310 area code in 1991 and the 323 area code in 1998. In 2017, the CPUC approved an elimination of the boundary between the 213 and 323 area codes, creating the 213/323 overlay area codes.
The proposal voted on is available at docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M503/K338/503338102.PDF.
Documents related to the proceeding are available at apps.cpuc.ca.gov/p/A2208009.
More information on the 213/323/738 area codes is available at www.cpuc.ca.gov/213_323_areacodes.
The CPUC regulates services and utilities, protects consumers, safeguards the environment, and assures Californians’ access to safe and reliable utility infrastructure and services. For more information on the CPUC, please visit www.cpuc.ca.gov.
###
Press Release
