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New 629 Phone Code Set to Invade 615 Calling Area

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  Making a phone call to one of your mid-state neighbors is about to get more complicated.

The Tennessee Regulatory Authority has approved the implementation of a new area code "overlay" for the 615 calling area. An overlay means that two different area codes will be used in the same geographic region.

Regulatory Authority spokesman David Foster says the new area code will be 629. He says the agency expects to begin assigning 629 numbers in 2015 when the current supply of 615 numbers runs out.

“Theoretically, when the numbers run out, you could have a neighbor move into your neighborhood and their area code could be 629. Yours could be 615, but they could be two houses down the block.”

Foster says that at some point everyone in the mid-state will have to begin dialing local calls using all ten digits.

He says most families used to have a single phone in the home, but the advent of cell phones means that every member of the family may now need a number of their own.