BOISE (KTVB) - Hey there, 208. Meet 986.

That's Idaho's soon-to-be new area code, approved on Monday by the state Public Utilities Commission.

The new area code will be issued only to new numbers in late 2017, the PUC said.

It will join 208, the area code issued in 1947.

Idaho is one of few states that still has just one area code, the PUC said.

The PUC said it adopted the unanimous recommendation of the state's telecommunications providers and commission staff for a “geographic overlay."

That option will  ultimately require that all customers in Idaho dial 10 digits (area code, plus prefix, plus four-digit number) beginning in late 2017.

The PUC said a 16-month transition and customer education process will launch next year, with telecommunications providers starting customer education in about six months and PUC staff conducting customer education workshops throughout Idaho starting in the spring.

A nine-month period will begin at about the end of 2016 that will allow people to start using 10-digit dialing. Seven-digit dialing will still work during that period.

Mandatory 10-digit dialing will become mandatory in the fourth quarter of 2017, the PUC said.

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