SALEM, Ore. -- Beginning Sunday, Oregon coast residents will have to start using the area code plus the local number to be connected.

The change applies to fourteen north Oregon coast telephone exchanges where people will use either the 503 or the 971 area code prefix.

Regulators say the change to ten-digit dialing is driven by a growing demand for new phone numbers. To make sure there are enough phone numbers are available to meet future demand, the Oregon Public Utility Commission approved a new 971 prefix that will serve the same geographic area.