Southern Oregon's Telephone Service will be changing effective January 10, 2010. All local Southern Oregon calls will need to include the area code and the phone number when placing a call. The reason for the change is Oregon is preparing to add its fourth area code, 458. The new area code will be overlaid on the existing 541 area code, so callers will have to add the area code to all their calls. People who only dial seven digits as of next Sunday will not be able to make the connection.
Long-distance calls within the 541 area code will still need to have the prefix 1 before the area code. State regulators and telephone company officials hope the transformation will go as smoothly as it did when Portland and northwest Oregon overlaid the 971 area code over the 503 area code. New numbers with the 458 area code will start being assigned Feb. 10, 2010. Southern Oregon telephone companies will use their remaining 541 numbers first, but some 458 numbers could begin to appear in February 2010.
