Area codes 704 and 980

North Carolina area codes.

NANPA area codes 704 and 980 cover Charlotte and all or part of 12 surrounding counties in south-central North Carolina. Other major cities in the service area are Gastonia, Kannapolis, Concord, Mooresville, Salisbury, Statesville, and Shelby. The South Carolina side of the Charlotte metropolitan area is part of area code 803.

The main area code, 704, is one of the original 86 Numbering Plan Areas assigned in 1947. At that time it covered the entire state of North Carolina. In 1954, Winston-Salem and points east were split off to create area code 919, leaving 704 to cover the western third of the state from Charlotte to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

This configuration remained in place for the next 44 years. Despite explosive growth in Charlotte, the state's largest city, the western third of the state was not as densely populated as the eastern two-thirds, which went from one area code to four during the 1990s. By the mid-1990s, however, demand for telephone lines made a split inevitable. In 1998, most of the western portion of the old 704 territory, including the Foothills and Blue Ridge, were split off to create area code 828, leaving 704 to cover the Charlotte area.

The creation of 828 was intended as a long-term solution. Within two years, however, 704 was close to exhaustion once again due to Charlotte's continued growth, as well as the proliferation of cell phones and pagers. The supply of available numbers was further limited because the Charlotte LATA spills into York and Lancaster counties in South Carolina, meaning several exchange numbers in South Carolina's 803 were unavailable for use in area 704. For this reason, 980 was created as the state's first overlay. Permissive dialing (7 digits) was permitted between May 1, 2000 and March 15, 2001, after which, 10-digit dialing was mandatory.[1][2]

Counties served

Cities and towns

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Planning Letter 229: NPA 980 To Overlay NPA 704 (North Carolina)" (PDF). North American Numbering Plan Administration. North American Numbering Plan Administration. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  2. ↑ "Planning Letter 258: Revised Mandatory Dialing Date for NPA 704 (North Carolina)" (PDF). North American Numbering Plan Administration. North American Numbering Plan Administration. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
North Carolina area codes: 252, 336/743, 704/980, 828, 910, 919/984
North: 336 / 743
West: 828 704 / 980 East: 910
South: 803, 843
South Carolina area codes: 803, 843/854, 864
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