Phone calls must include area code starting Saturday

Dialing 10 numbers will become mandatory for all local calls made in Clark County starting Saturday.

If, after that date, a machine picks up the line instead of the person dialed, it will probably be because the caller did not enter the 10 required digits — the area code plus the telephone number — and the machine is serving as a reminder to do so.

The change is part of a plan to meet Southern Nevada’s customer demand. Given the rate of population growth in the region, available phone numbers with a 702 area code will be exhausted by 2014’s third quarter, as estimated by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator. That led to the establishment of a second telephone area code for Clark County, 725.

While there may be two area codes in Southern Nevada, both will be considered local, and calls to either area code will not be charged as long-distance calls.

Calls to 911 and 411 will not change and people will retain their current phone numbers and area codes, officials said.

The new area code was approved in 2012, and the transition period began in August 2013 to give Clark County residents time to get accustomed to the change and update alarm and security systems as well as fax machines and Internet dial-up numbers, according to state Public Utilities Commission.

Telephone numbers with the 725 area code are expected to start being issued June 3.

Anyone with questions about the second area code and dialing changes can contact their telephone service providers or obtain information at puc.nv.gov or dial10digits.org.

Contact reporter Maria Agreda at magreda@reviewjournal .com or 702-383-0391. Find her on Twitter: @mjfagre.