California regulators add 357 area code as overlay to 559 area code

Central California will have a new area code to meet the rising demand for phone numbers.

The 559 area code in the central part of the San Joaquin Valley will soon have company. 

Tuesday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) announced that a second area code will be provided to the region. 

The big picture: Currently the 559 area code encompasses most of Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Madera Counties. 

  • The new area code added by the CPUC will be 357, which will act as an overlay in the region to provide additional numbers. 
  • No one with an existing 559 area code will be required to change their area code to 357 or their phone number. 

Driving the news: The CPUC is adding the 357 area code because the 559 area code is projected to run out of available prefixes – the first three numbers after the area code in a phone number – by September 2025. 

  • The North American Numbering Plan Administrator – the neutral third-party area code relief planner for California – made the request to the CPUC for an overlay to meet the demand. 

The backstory: The 559 area code came into being in 1998 when the CPUC split the region that had the 209 area code. 

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