Pierce County and south Georgia will be getting a new area code in coming years.
The Georgia Public Service Commission announced last week a new 565 area code will be added to the existing 912 area code over the southeastern area of the state.
Telecommunications industry officials have determined that the 912 area code will exhaust its potential combinations by the second quarter of 2028. A specific date for the introduction of the 565 area code has not been set.
Experts believe adding the 565 area code will ensure southeastern Georgia has sufficient new phone numbers for 24 years.
Currently, the 912 area code is assigned to phone numbers in the geographic area bordered roughly by the Georgia-South Carolina border on the north and the Georgia-Florida border to the south. The area is bounded to the west along a line from roughly Statesboro and Waycross and to the Atlantic coast on the east. The 912 area code includes the municipalities of Savannah, Brunswick, Douglas, Hinesville, Kingsland, Pooler, Richmond Hill, Saint Marys and other smaller municipalities.
Once new phone numbers for the 912 area code have been exhausted, some new users will be assigned the 565 area code. The 912 area code will remain in use, with phone customers currently using 912 keeping the number.
The 912 area code was established in 1954, the first split from the 404 area code that was once used statewide. In 2000, the 912 area code was further split to carve out 229 and 478 area codes in Southwest Georgia and Middle Georgia, respectively.
