SEATTLE — Western Washington residents will have to punch in the area code along with the telephone number in order to make a local call starting Saturday.
Dialing a 1 before the area code is only required for long-distance calls.
Starting July 29, all local calls made within western Washington will require dialing the 10-digit telephone number, though many people have been doing this already in the age of smartphones, depending on where they live and their phone carrier.
That's because a new area code - 564 - is being added throughout the region starting Aug. 28.
New telephone numbers in the 206, 253 and 425 territories will be assigned a 564 area code, initially starting with the 360 area code territory.
Current telephone numbers won't change, nor will the price of a call or coverage area.
State regulators approved the new area code last year.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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