Wisconsin Is Getting A New Telephone Area Code In 2023

WISCONSIN — A new telephone area code is coming to the Badger State in 2023 as the current area code for much of southwest and southcentral Wisconsin runs out of combinations.

People who live where the telephone area code is 608 will soon also see 353 in the same area, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin announced Thursday. The change comes as the 608 code is expected to run out of prefixes by 2024 (the three numbers that come after the area code).

Current phone customers will keep their existing phone numbers but new phones in the region will be assigned with the new area code, PSC said.

People can expect the new area code to begin popping up by late 2023, according to PSC. Both area codes will coexist in the same region.

The overlay plan comes months after Wisconsin switched over to 10-digit-dialing.

Previously much of the state only had to dial the last seven digits of a phone number for local calls. But after July, the state now has to dial area codes for every call. The switch came alongside the introduction of a new suicide prevention number.