A new area code will soon join the existing 502 region, as the Kentucky Public Service Commission has approved the all-services distributed overlay plan as the method of relief to ensure a supply of new telephone numbers.
Under the plan, a new area code will serve the same geographic area currently served by the existing 502 service region. All existing customers within the 502 service region will be able to retain both the 502 area code and their current seven-digit telephone number.
Once implemented, there will be mandatory ten-digit dialing throughout the 502 geographic area.
The new area code came about because last October, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, the ultimate authority over the North American Numbering Plan, applied to the PSC for approval of a relief plan for the 502 Area Code.
It's estimated that the 502 area code is projected to exhaust its telephone numbers during the third quarter of 2027.
502 is one of the original area codes, created in 1947 to serve the entire state of Kentucky.
NANPA is expected to announce the new area code number in about a week. It will join 270, 364, 502, 606 and 859 as area codes employed within Kentucky.
The telecommunications industry and NANPA recommend a thirteen-month schedule for implementation of the overlay area code. Starting the implementation at least nineteen months prior to exhaust and adhering to the industry agreed-upon schedule will allow the new area code to be implemented six months prior to the projected exhaust of the 502 NPA.
Under the current plan, permissive 10-digit local calling in the 502 area code will begin Dec. 7, 2026. Mandatory ten-digit local calling will begin June 7, 2027. The following month will see numbers begin to be assigned for the new area code.
