Burn these numbers in your memory: 2-8-3.

        That's the new area code that will supplement the 513 area code in Southwest Ohio starting sometime late next year, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) said Tuesday.

        The move also means that 10-digit dialing is coming to the 513 area code.

        The North American Numbering Plan Administrator, the arm of Lockheed Martin Corp. that oversees number assignments, picked the three digits that will be assigned new numbers when current numbers in the 513 area code are exhausted. That's expected to occur sometime next summer.

        The increase in cell phones, second phone lines, pagers and computer modems is using up existing telephone numbers at a dramatic rate.

        “The need for area code relief clearly reflects the advent of more competition in the telecommunications industry,” PUCO Chairman Alan Schriber said in a statement.

        “Unfortunately, number exhaust is an adverse consequence of the otherwise positive developments.”

        The new area code will include all of the 513 area code except the Franklin exchange, which has the cities of Franklin and Springboro, the village of Carlisle and the townships of Clearcreek and Franklin in northwestern Warren County. That exchange will be reassigned to the 937 area code around Dayton.

        In September, the PUCO approved the plan to “overlay” a new area code on the 513 area code, a move that will require 10-digit local dialing. The switch won't mean any change in local and long distance dialing.

        Following an extensive study and three public hearings, the PUCO opted for the overlay. A second option which would have split the 513 area code in two.

        Greater Cincinnati got its first taste of ten-digit local calling Oct. 1 when Northern Kentucky was split off from the 606 area code with its own 859 code. That requires callers from Cincinnati to dial 859 and the seven digits when making a nontoll call to Northern Kentucky.

        With the 283 overlay, customers with the current 513 area code will keep their current numbers but will have to dial either 513 or 283 for all local calls.

        Subscribers will have time to get used to the change. Starting Jan. 15 and continuing for at least six months, subscribers will be able to complete local calls using either the 10 or seven-digit numbers.

        The PUCO expects to set when ten-digit dialing will be required in the 513 area code sometime after Jan. 1.

        With the addition of 283, Ohio will have 11 area codes.