Nassau’s Additional Area Code Will Be 363 – Long Island Business News

The state’s Public Service Commission announced Monday that a planned additional area code for Nassau County will be 363. 

Beginning the second quarter of 2023, customers in the existing 516 area code requesting new service, an additional line, or a move in the location of their service, may be assigned a number in the new 363 area code. 

Customers will retain their current telephone numbers, and 10-digit dialing for local calls will continue. The 363 overlay area code will be assigned to newly issued telephone numbers in Nassau once all existing 516 telephone numbers are exhausted, and will apply to all telephone numbers, regardless of service type. The new area code is projected to provide telephone number relief in the county for approximately 49 years. 

The PSC announced last week that an additional area code for Nassau had been authorized after the North American Numbering Plan Administrator had petitioned the PSC to establish an all-services area code overlay to provide numbering relief for the current 516 area code, which is expected to be exhausted, or run out of available numbers, no later than the second quarter of 2023. 

“As a result of a robust economy and strong demand for telecommunication services on Long Island, we need to establish a new area code,” PSC Chair Rory Christian said in a written statement last week. “With the addition of the new area code, Nassau County will be well-positioned to accommodate future economic growth and to satisfy growing consumer demand. Further, our decision will ensure local telephone service remains available.”  

Although mandatory 10-digit dialing will be required, the new area code will not affect the number of digits that customers in the 516-area code must dial, because 516 customers are already transitioning to mandatory 10-digit dialing due to the implementation of the 988 abbreviated dialing code to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which is currently underway and scheduled to be completed by July 16, 2022.