Wisconsin new ‘353’ area code takes effect Sept. 15

Listen to this article

Step aside 608, — a new 353 area code will be utilized beginning Sept. 15 when Southwestern and South-Central Wisconsin telephone customers request new service or an additional line, according to the Public Service Commission (PSC) of Wisconsin.

Back in September of 2022, PSC announced the 608 area code is expected to run out of assignable prefixes (the three numbers in a phone number following the area code) in the first quarter of 2024.

“All current customers will retain their existing telephone numbers and will continue to dial and receive calls without change,” PSC officials said.

According to PSC, an area code overlay adds a second area code to the geographic region served by the existing area code. Therefore, multiple area codes co-exist within the same geographic region. Customers will continue to dial the three-digit area code for all calls to and from telephone numbers with the 608
and 353 area codes.

PSC also noted 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, 811, and 988, the new Suicide & Crisis Lifeline,” PSC officials added.

According to documents obtained by the Wisconsin Law Journal, back in June of 2022, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator filed a petition on behalf of the Wisconsin telecommunications industry for relief of the “608” Numbering Plan Area (“NPA”) (aka “area code”).

According to the petition, the 608 area code was created back in 1955 as a result of a geographic split of one of the original Wisconsin NPAs, the 414 area code.

To date, the 608 area code serves all or parts of the following counties: Adams, Buffalo, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Grant, Green, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Juneau, La Crosse, Lafayette, Marquette, Monroe, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Trempealeau, Vernon, and Walworth, according to the petition.

The 608 area code also serves Fort McCoy, one of the primary training bases in the United States for the U.S. Army, the petition notes.

While some states like Montana and Wyoming still have only one original area code for the entire state, other places like Chicago have several.