Area codes 850 and 448

When the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) was created by AT&T in 1947, the entire state of Florida was assigned the area code 305.

Outcry from the public and business community in the Jacksonville region was significant since Jacksonville is the largest urban area in northern Florida, and would thus face a greater expense and burden to change phone numbers, reprogram cell phones and update printed materials than other parts of the area code.

The Florida PSC changed course and adopted the plan that was ultimately implemented with the panhandle, including Tallahassee,[3] moving to 850 and Jacksonville and Daytona Beach retaining 904.

Based on previous exhaust forecasts, NANPA began relief planning to provide additional numbering capacity in the 850 region.

An initial planning meeting was held on May 16, 2019, during which industry members recommended an all-services overlay as the preferred relief method.

NANPA subsequently filed a request with the Florida Public Service Commission to approve a new area code overlaying 850.