Im mid-January, the State Corporation Commission announced that a new area code is coming to the Northern Neck and other areas. According to New 686 Area Code Is Coming to Virginia’s 804 Area Code Region,
Customers requesting new service or additional phone lines in the 804 area code region could be assigned the new 686 area code as soon as February 1, 2024, but not until all available phone numbers in the 804 area code have run out. That is expected to happen during the third quarter of 2024.
In November 2022, the State Corporation Commission (SCC) approved the implementation of the new 686 area code to be superimposed over the same geographic region covered by the existing 804 area code. This area includes the central portion of Virginia including Richmond, Ashland, Charles City, Chesterfield, Henrico, New Kent and Petersburg, as well as the Northern Neck.
The SCC expects numbers in the (686) area code to be used up in 32 years or so.