10-digit dialing to be required in some Arizona area codes

By PAUL DAVENPORT
Associated Press Writer

PHOENIX (AP) — Starting Sunday, phone users in much of Arizona must include area codes when dialing to make all calls, including local calls that previously required only seven digits. As in many other states, the change applies in those area codes where some phone numbers have 988 prefixes. That matters because the Federal Communications Commission last year chose 988 for use as the three-digit abbreviated dialing code to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline starting next July. In Arizona, the new requirement applies to local callers in the 480, 520 and 928 area codes. It doesn’t apply in the 602 and 623 area codes.