Beginning on August 19th, 2024, residents of the Upstate, which includes the cities of Anderson, Greenville, and Spartanburg, will notice a new area code: 821 instead of the current (and familiar) 864. If you currently have an 864 number, your area code will not change—but you will need to dial the area code to complete local calls. Here’s what you need to know:

On January 19th, a six-month “permissive dialing period”—basically, an opt-in training period to get you used to dialing both the area code and the seven-digit number—will begin. During this period, you can make local calls by either dialing 7 or 10 digits. All local calls will continue to be local.

Beginning July 19th, this switches to mandatory ten-digit dialing, meaning all calls made within the 864 area code must be placed using ten digits. Calls placed using just seven digits—that is, without the area code—will not be completed.

Beginning August 19th, new telephone lines or services may be assigned numbers that use the new 821 area code.

This 821 area code will only apply to newly-issued numbers in 2024—if you already have a phone line or service with an 864 area code, your number will not change.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What’s an area code overlay?

An overlay is the addition of another area code (821) to the same geographic region served by an existing area code (864). 

Will my phone number change?

If you already have an 864 area code, no, your number will not change. This new area code only applies to numbers that are issued beginning in 2024.

Who do I contact if I have questions?

Reach out to the Public Service Commission at 803.896.5100 or email Rob Bockman at robert.bockman@psc.sc.gov if you have questions about this new area code overlay. If you have questions about your telephone service, reach out to your service provider.