Area codes 813 and 656

Although the 1995 split was intended to be a long-term solution, within only three years, 813 was close to exhaustion again because of the rapid growth of telephone service in the Tampa Bay area and the proliferation of cell phones and pagers.

However, overlays were still a new concept, and the mixing of area codes in the same region, and the resulting requirement for ten-digit dialing, met considerable resistance.

GTE and the Florida Public Service Commission wanted to spare alarm companies and ISPs the cost of reprogramming and replacing systems that could not handle 10 digit dialing.

[citation needed] In 2022, the available telephone numbers for area code 813 were expected to be exhausted during the third quarter of 2022.

The new area code 656 started service on February 22, 2022, but only after all available central office prefixes of 813 had been assigned.