The State Corporation Commission has ordered the 804 area code split in half geographically, with the western half getting a new area code beginning April 1.

An SCC order issued yesterday says the eastern half, which includes the Richmond area, Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck, will keep 804 but will get a second area code in six years when available 804 phone numbers are expected to run out.

When the 804 and the second area code are both in use in the eastern half, callers will need to dial 10 digits for local calls.

The commission has given wireless phone customers in the western half additional time to get their phones reprogrammed for their new area code.

A new area code number has not been assigned yet for the western area, but the North American Numbering Plan administrator, Neustar Inc., should pick a number by year's end, Ken Schrad of the SCC said.

A change in the area code was needed because demand for telecommunications services should cause the existing 804 area code to run out of phone numbers by April 2002.

The SCC's decision on dividing the area code mirrors a recommendation made in July by SCC Hearing Examiner Michael D. Thomas, who conducted public hearings this year on how the state should respond to the dwindling supply of numbers.

Paul Miller, a spokesman for Verizon Virginia, said the local telephone company still favors a second area code for the entire 804 region.

Most of the telecommunication industry and business groups argued for such an overlay, saying it would allow customers to keep existing phone numbers.

But the SCC believes the solution it has adopted should require no further changes for at least 20 years.

The geographic split is relatively equal in land area, but the more rural western section contains a third of the area's population. The commission decision will allow phone customers in the western area to continue dialing seven digits to make local calls.

Residents and businesses in the western area will have about a one year grace period during which they can be reached by dialing 804 or the new area code. Wireless customers will have two years to get their phones reprogrammed.

The 804 area code was created in 1972 when the state's original 703 area code was split. The state now has five area codes, with the latest being an overlay code, 571, used in the same part of Northern Virginia as the 703 code.