Pennsylvania (blue) with numbering plan area 215 shown in red.
In 1947, when AT&T established the North American Numbering Plan, 215 included the entire southeastern part of the Commonwealth, from the Delaware border to the Lehigh Valley. Pennsylvania was divided into four numbering plan areas, the second most in the Bell System after New York State, a status shared with Illinois, Ohio, and Texas.
On January 8, 1994, the western and northern portions of the original 215 territory, i.e., Philadelphia's western suburbs, most of Berks County, and the Lehigh Valley, changed to area code 610, while Philadelphia and its northern suburbs retained 215. However, three central office codes were moved from 215 to east-central Pennsylvania's 717, namely 267 in Denver, 484 in Adamstown and 445 in Terre Hill, with 215-267 becoming 717-336 because 717-267 was already in use. These exchanges were originally slated to move into 610, but were served by non-Bell telephone companies which sought to consolidate their eastern Pennsylvania customers into one area code.
This was intended as a long-term solution, but within two years 215 was close to exhaustion due to the rapid growth of the Philadelphia area and the proliferation of cell phones and pagers. For relief, area code 267 was established as an overlay on the 215 numbering plan area on July 1, 1997. Local calls across the Delaware/Pennsylvania border were changed to ten-digit dialing.
Area code 445 was first proposed in July 2000 as an overlay code on numbering plan areas 215 and 267.[1] However, these plans were delayed and then rescinded in 2003 by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.[2] The need for new phone numbers in area codes 215/267 was delayed until 2018. Area code 445 was activated as an additional overlay code on February 3, 2018.[3] This had the effect of assigning 23 million numbers to a service territory of four million people. However, despite Philadelphia's continued growth, 215/267/445 is nowhere near exhaustion. The most recent NANP exhaust projections do not list an exhaust date for the 215/267/445 territory, meaning that Philadelphia may not need a fourth area code until beyond 2050.[4]
area, codes, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, june, 2021, le. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Area codes 215 267 and 445 news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Area codes 215 267 and 445 are the North American telephone area codes for Philadelphia and adjacent portions of Bucks and Montgomery counties in Pennsylvania The original area code is 215 which was established in 1947 while 267 and 445 are overlay codes for the same numbering plan area NPA Pennsylvania blue with numbering plan area 215 shown in red In 1947 when AT amp T established the North American Numbering Plan 215 included the entire southeastern part of the Commonwealth from the Delaware border to the Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania was divided into four numbering plan areas the second most in the Bell System after New York State a status shared with Illinois Ohio and Texas On January 8 1994 the western and northern portions of the original 215 territory i e Philadelphia s western suburbs most of Berks County and the Lehigh Valley changed to area code 610 while Philadelphia and its northern suburbs retained 215 However three central office codes were moved from 215 to east central Pennsylvania s 717 namely 267 in Denver 484 in Adamstown and 445 in Terre Hill with 215 267 becoming 717 336 because 717 267 was already in use These exchanges were originally slated to move into 610 but were served by non Bell telephone companies which sought to consolidate their eastern Pennsylvania customers into one area code This was intended as a long term solution but within two years 215 was close to exhaustion due to the rapid growth of the Philadelphia area and the proliferation of cell phones and pagers For relief area code 267 was established as an overlay on the 215 numbering plan area on July 1 1997 Local calls across the Delaware Pennsylvania border were changed to ten digit dialing Area code 445 was first proposed in July 2000 as an overlay code on numbering plan areas 215 and 267 1 However these plans were delayed and then rescinded in 2003 by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission 2 The need for new phone numbers in area codes 215 267 was delayed until 2018 Area code 445 was activated as an additional overlay code on February 3 2018 3 This had the effect of assigning 23 million numbers to a service territory of four million people However despite Philadelphia s continued growth 215 267 445 is nowhere near exhaustion The most recent NANP exhaust projections do not list an exhaust date for the 215 267 445 territory meaning that Philadelphia may not need a fourth area code until beyond 2050 4 Contents 1 Counties served 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksCounties served Edit Philadelphia was located in the original numbering plan area 215 267 was added in 1997 and 445 in 2018 The 215 267 445 area codes serve all or part of five counties in Pennsylvania 5 Berks County extreme eastern portion Bucks County all but northeastern portion which is served by area codes 610 484 and 835 Lehigh County extreme southern portion Montgomery County northern and eastern area rest of county served by area codes 610 484 and 835 Philadelphia County all Places with over 30 000 inhabitants Abington Bensalem Bristol Cheltenham Falls Lower Makefield Northampton Philadelphia WarminsterSee also Edit Philadelphia portal Pennsylvania portalList of Pennsylvania area codes List of NANP area codes North American Numbering PlanReferences Edit NPA 445 to Overlay NPAs 215 and 267 Pennsylvania NPA 835 to Overlay NPAs 610 and 484 Pennsylvania PDF 582 KiB NPA 445 Implementation for 215 267 NPA Rescinded 445 NPA Code Reclaimed PDF 64 5 KiB 445 Philadelphia suburbs getting new area code Pennsylvania 1 1 MiB April 2020 NANP exhaust analysis Area Code 215 and 267 Map PDF Map Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Retrieved June 22 2011 External links EditList of Pennsylvania area codes NANPA area code map of PennsylvaniaPennsylvania area codes 215 267 445 223 717 272 570 412 484 610 724 814 582 878 North 484 610 835 908West 484 610 835 215 267 445 East 609 640South 856New Jersey area codes 201 551 609 640 732 848 856 862 973 908Coordinates 39 59 24 N 75 09 14 W 39 990 N 75 154 W 39 990 75 154 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Area codes 215 267 and 445 amp oldid 1130697945, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
