0
No, they change when numbers are running out in an area, or when a country decides to reorganise its numbers.
For example, look at the UK's recent changes:
1990: London gets new area codes, as it has nearly run out of numbers
1995: All UK area codes change as part of a national renumbering
2000: New area codes for London, Cardiff, mobile phones and other areas
2008: Area code created for the brand new town of Ebbsfleet
How often area codes change depends on where you live. If you lived in London, you'd have seen three changes in 10 years, but if you lived in a smaller town you might have not had any hanges for nearly 20 years.
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoNot very often.
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
Does the area code change in different countries when your traveling?
Yes, different countries usually have different country codes, and each country code can have its own system of area codes.
When was the last time that Indiana changed area codes?
The last area code change in Indiana was in 2002, when area code 219 in northern Indiana underwent a three-way split, creating new area codes 260 and 574.
When did area code 817 change to 972?
The Dallas telephone area code 972 was created on 14-Sep-1996. However, area code 817 is Fort Worth. Area code 817 did not change to 972.Area codes 214, 972, and 469 serve the Dallas area. Area codes 817 and 682 serve the Ft. Worth area.Area codes 940 (Denton, Wichita Falls) and 254 (Waco) split off from 817 in 1997.
Can a cell phone company run out of phone numbers for a certain area?
Yes, any phone company can run out of phone number for a given area. When they do they create a new area code. (Houston has three.) When all the possible area codes are used up (There are a total of 680 usable area codes available for assignment in North America) they will have to change to an 11 digit system which will make every telephone device and the software for every database that contains phone numbers obsolete. If you thought Y2K was a potential problem you ain't seen nothing yet.
How do I use a map to find area codes?
If you look at maps, you will not find area codes. Area codes can be found on area code locator websites. Another place to find area codes is in the telephone directory.
What is a general purpose area code?
In North America, general purpose area codes are area codes that are available for assignment as geographic area codes; in other words, all unassigned area codes that are not reserved for other purposes. Area codes ending in '11' are unusable due to conflict with N11 short codes such as 911 and 711. Area codes with the second and third digit the same are reserved as "easily remembered" codes such as 800/888/877/866/855/844 toll-free and 900 premium numbers. Area codes with '9' as the middle digit are reserved for future expansion. Most other unassigned area codes in the range 200 to 999 are general purpose area codes.
What are the top 5 states for phone area codes?
In the United States, the states with the most area codes are:California (30 area codes, will be 31 as of 2012-11-20)Texas (24 area codes)Florida (17 area codes)New York (15 area codes)Illinois (13 area codes, with three more planned for 2013)When area codes were first introduced in 1947, California had 3, Texas had 4, Florida had only 1, New York had 5, and Illinois had 4.
When was area codes originated?
Area codes in the US and Canada were introduced in 1947.
How old are telephone area codes?
The area code system for the US and Canada was introduced in 1947, so it will be 65 years old later this year.
How many area codes are there?
There are about 300 area codes in the United States, about 30 in Canada, and about 20 in other miscellaneous islands in or near the Caribbean that share country code +1 with the US and Canada. There are about 400 area codes in Mexico. There are about 600 area codes in the UK. There are about 5,200 area codes in Germany.
Why was it necessary in the 1990s to allow area codes to include a middle digit other than 0 or 1?
The change was necessary because we were just plain running out of telephone numbers. The tremendous growth of cellular phones, fax machines, and competing local telephone companies meant that many area codes needed to split or overlay, but we were up against the limit of the N0X/N1X area code format. The US alone now has almost 300 geographic area codes, plus five toll-free codes and several other non-geographic codes, over 30 area codes in Canada, and 20 geographic area codes for areas that are neither US nor Canadian territory (island countries and territories in or near the Caribbean). Under the original system of area codes, there were only 144 geographic codes possible, plus 8 special codes (700, 800, 900, etc.) and 8 short codes that were not available as area codes (411, 911, etc.). When North America again runs low on available area codes, probably some time in the middle of this century or later, we will probably have to go to 4-digit area codes and 8-digit local numbers.
When were area codes first issued?
The first telephone area codes were issued for the USA and Canada in 1947. The first telephone area codes were issued in the UK in 1958.
