The new 924 area code is coming to Minnesota: Here’s what to know [Video]

ROCHESTER, Minn. — People calling from southern Minnesota could soon start popping up on your phone under a new area code.

Final preparations are underway for the rollout of the new 924 area code, which will overlap with the current 507 area code serving southern Minnesota, including communities like Rochester, Austin, Mankato, Winona and Worthington. It will be the first such “area code overlay” in Minnesota; previous area code changes in the state involved carving out a new geographic region from a previous area code.

According to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC), new phone lines activated in southern Minnesota may be assigned numbers from either the 507 or 924 area code starting August 30. Phone lines using the current 507 area code in the region will not change.

One thing that will change for some people in southern Minnesota: having to switch to ten-digit dialing instead of seven-digit dialing …