10-digit dialing now required in Idaho

Ben Olson
Reader Staff

The days of seven-digit dialing in Idaho are a thing of the past as of Saturday.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission announced that callers will now be required to dial all 10 digits for local calls within the state of Idaho. This means dialing the area code and the seven-digit telephone number to make a local call.

The change comes after a new area code was announced for Idaho last year due to the fact that some areas of the state are expected to exhaust their supply of numbers within the 208 area code. The 208 area code will be joined by the new Idaho area code 986.

Current telephone numbers with the 208 area code will not change, officials say, but the new code 986 will overlay the existing code instead of splitting the state into two divisions to assign new numbers.