Large parts of the U.S. lost 7-digit local calls
Update: 4 areas of Canada, too, in 2023
🇨🇦Canada: in English
Canada followed suit, with the CRTC ordering on that the 9-8-8 suicide prevention number be implemented nationwide, effective . However, since all the major population centres of Canada already have 10-digit local calls because they are in area code overlays, only a few parts of Canada will have to change their dialing habits.
The province of New Brunswick was already scheduled to have an overlay on , so its transition to 10-digit local calls went ahead as planned. The province of Newfoundland & Labrador has been planning an overlay, but managed to postpone it to early 2024. However, there is a 709-988 prefix in the tiny settlement of Norman’s Bay, Labrador, population 15 (2021 census). That means that the entire province got to start a couple of months early on 10-digit local calls. Area code 867, serving Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, also has an 867-988 prefix, located in Yellowknife, NWT, but the CRTC ordered 10-digit local calls only in Yellowknife (Sǫǫ̀mbak’è, including Behchokǫ̀, Whatì, and Dettah/Tʼèɂehdaà); the rest of the North gets to keep dialing only 7 digits.
And then there’s Northwest Ontario, including Thunder Bay, Kenora, and Fort Severn (ᐗᔕᐦᐅ ᐃᓂᓂᐗᐠ). Area code 807 still has 7-digit local calls, and does not have an 807-988 prefix, so everything is fine, right? Well, no. For no discernible reason, the CRTC ordered 807 to start 10-digit dialing anyway. See the details at the link above.
The 9-8-8 lifeline number should now be working throughout Canada. However, if you are feeling distressed and 9-8-8 is not working, please call toll-free 1-833-456-4566 or text 741741 (adults) or 686868 (youth). Within Québec, call 1-866-APPELLE or text 1-855-957-5353.
🇨🇦Canada: en français
Le Canada a emboîté le pas. Le , le CRTC ordonna que le numéro de prévention du suicide 9-8-8 soit mis en œuvre à l’échelle nationale, à compter du . Cependant, comme tous les grands centres de population du Canada ont déja des appels locaux à dix chiffres parce qu’ils sont en recouvrements, seules quelques parties du Canada devront changer leurs habitudes de composition.
La province du Nouveau-Brunswick devait déjà avoir un recouvrement le , donc sa transition vers les appels locaux à dix chiffres se poursuivra comme prévue. La province de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador a prévu un recouvrement, mais a réussi à le reporter jusqu’au début 2024. Cependant, il y a un préfixe 709-988 dans le petit village de Norman’s Bay, Labrador, population 15 (recensement de 2021). Ça signifie que toute la province commença quelques mois plus tôt avec les appels locaux à dix chiffres. L’indicatif régional 867, qui dessert le Yukon, les Territoires du Nord-Ouest, et le Nunavut, aussi utilise le préfixe 867-988 à Yellowknife, T.N.O., mais la CRTC ordonna des appels locaux à dix chiffres seulement à Yellowknife (Sǫǫ̀mbak’è, y compris Behchokǫ̀, Whatì, et Dettah/Tʼèɂehdaà); le reste du Nord peut conserver les appels locaux à sept chiffres.
Et puis il y a l’indicatif régional 807, qui dessert le nord-ouest de l’Ontario, y compris Thunder Bay, Kenora, et Fort Severn (ᐗᔕᐦᐅ ᐃᓂᓂᐗᐠ). À l’indicatif régional 807, on permet encore les appels locaux à sept chiffres, et il n’y a pas de préfixe 807-988, donc tout va bien, n’est-ce pas? Et bien non. Sans raison apparente, la CRTC ordonna les appels à dix chiffres au 807. Voir les détails sur le lien ci-dessus [en anglais].
Le numéro 9-8-8 devrait fonctionner dorénavant partout au Canada. Mais au Québec, si tu te sens en détresse et le numéro 9-8-8 n’est pas en service, veuille appeler sans frais 1-866-APPELLE ou envoyer un SMS à 1-855-957-5353. Dans le reste du Canada, veuille appeler sans frais 1-833-456-4566 ou envoyer un SMS à 741741 (adultes) ou à 686868 (jeunes).
🇨🇦Canada: table
|
Notations: † indicates an area that changed before ; an (area code) in parentheses is an overlay that has not yet taken effect |
||
| Province/Territory | Dial | Area Code(s) |
|---|---|---|
| New Brunswick | 7D ⇒ 10D | 506† & 428 |
| Newfoundland & Labrador |
7D ⇒ 10D | 709† & 879 |
| Northwest Territories |
remain 7D | 867 (everywhere except Yellowknife) |
| 7D ⇒ 10D | 867 (Yellowknife local calling area) | |
| Nunavut Yukon |
remain 7D | 867 (entirety of both territories) |
| Ontario | 7D ⇒ 10D | 807 (for no apparent reason!); (Note that mandatory 10D was postponed until for Thunder Bay only.) |
| remain 10D | 416 & 647 & 437, 519 & 226 & 548 (& 382), 613 & 343 & 753, 705 & 249 & 683, 905 & 289 & 365 & 742 | |
|
AB, BC, MB, NS, PE, QC, SK |
remain 10D | (all other provinces and area codes) |
Until the 1990s, each area code served one area, and each geographic area had one area code. Local calls were dialed as 7 digits (7D). Then came overlays, two or more numeric area codes serving the same geographic area, which brought with them the requirement to dial all local calls — even within the same area code — as 10 digits (10D), or in some areas 1 + 10 digits (1+10D). As of 2020, there were about 78 overlay areas, with a total of 169 area codes involved. There were 156 area codes in the United States that were not in an overlay; in those area codes, you could still dial a local call in the same area code as just 7 digits. Eleven of those 156 area codes had overlays in 2021 or early 2022, and thus introduced mandatory 10-digit dialing. That leaves 145 “single” area codes, of which 82 lost 7-digit local dialing in 2021 and 2022.
What is happening?
The U.S. federal government mandated that, beginning , the special 3-digit telephone number 9-8-8 will be used nationwide for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
However, many area codes have ordinary 7-digit numbers of the form 988-xxxx. That introduces the possibility of ambiguity: are you dialing 9-8-8 for the Lifeline, or are you dialing 988-xxxx for a business or residence? To resolve the issue, the FCC ordered that all 82 area codes that currently have 988-xxxx numbers and allowed 7-digit local calls, change over to 10-digit or 1+10D local calls before the new Lifeline number went into effect. [Technical details: NANPA PL-556] To find the details for your state, see below. (Click your state here: AK, AL, AR, AS, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, GU, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MP, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, PR, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VI, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY)
more information
Update: North Dakota kept 7D (for now)
The state of North Dakota (area code 701) had a 988 prefix (i.e., numbers of the form 701-988-xxxx), and so were slated to change to mandatory 10-digit dialing statewide. However, instead, they reclaimed the 988 prefix, allowing the state to keep 7-digit local calls. Any existing (701) 988-xxxx numbers were changed to a different prefix. However, North Dakota is expected to have an overlay around 2025, so you’ll be switching to 10D pretty soon anyway.
Already 10D statewide
The following states and territories already had mandatory 10-digit (or 1+10D) dialing of all local calls statewide: Connecticut, Idaho, Maryland, Oregon, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Puerto Rico, and District of Columbia.
Changed to 10D statewide by July 15, 2022
The following states and territories changed to mandatory
10-digit (or 1+10D) dialing of all
local calls:
Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Montana,
Nevada, New Hampshire,
New Jersey,
New Mexico,
North Dakota,
South Dakota, Vermont,
Washington State, Wisconsin,
and Guam.
Keeping 7D statewide
The following four states, plus three U.S. territories, currently permit 7-digit dialing of local calls within the same area code and are not affected by this federal mandate: Maine, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Wyoming, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. (Of course, if one of these states implements an area code overlay, it will have to switch to 10-digit local dialing. That’s projected for Maine and North Dakota in 2025. American Samoa is expected to need an overlay circa 2186, and no, that’s not a typo!)
No changes (mixed 7D and 10D)
The following states currently have a mixture of 7-digit and 10-digit local dialing, but will not be affected by the new federal mandate: Massachusetts, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah. In those five states, the areas that currently allow 7-digit local calls may continue to do so, until/unless they get an overlay.
Upcoming Overlays
All of the area codes with overlays expected in 2021 and 2022 are already slated for 10D local calls as a result of the 9-8-8 mandate. However, there are several area codes that will keep 7D local calls, but then lose them with overlays coming in short order. Specifically, Missouri’s 573, Arkansas’s 870, and Florida’s 904 are expecting overlays in 2024, with Michigan’s 313, South Carolina’s 864, Minnesota’s 507, North Dakota’s 701, and Alabama’s 334 expected to follow in 2025. Maine’s 207 was looking at an overlay as early as 2024, but conservation efforts have pushed that back to 2026 or 2027. Most of Arizona has changed to 10D local calls for the Big 10D, with the two remaining area codes, 602 and 623, changing on , in preparation for the 602 & 480 & 623 “boundary elimination” overlay.
Mixed 7D and 10D with some changes
That brings us to the 21 states where some, but not all, of the area codes changed from 7D to 10D. Those changes are summarized in the chart below. (Area codes that changed to 10-digit dialing are shown in bold.)
|
Notations: ✻ indicates an area that requires 1+10D instead of 10D local dialing; † indicates an area that changed before ; ‡ indicates an area that is likely to change within the next few years due to an expected overlay or for uniformity within a state or metropolitan area; an (area code) in parentheses is an overlay that has not yet taken effect |
||
| State | Dial | Area Code(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 7D ⇒ 10D | 251 |
| remain 7D | 334‡ | |
| remain 10D | 205 & 659, 256 & 938 | |
| Arizona | 7D ⇒ 10D | 480‡, 520, 928 |
| remain 7D | 602‡, 623‡ (both changing to 10D in 2023) | |
| Arkansas | 7D ⇒ 10D | 501 |
| remain 7D | 479, 870‡ | |
| California | 7D ⇒ 1+10D✻ | 209‡, 530, 562, 626, 650, 707‡, 925, 949, 951 |
| remain 7D | 559, 661, 831 | |
| remain 1+10D✻ | 213 & 323, 310 & 424, 408 & 669, 415 & 628, 510 & 341, 619 & 858, 714 & 657, 760 & 442, 805 & 820, 818 & 747, 909 & 840, 916 & 279 | |
| Florida | 7D ⇒ 10D | 321 only (Brevard Co., “Space Coast” area), 352, 561‡, 813 (& 656‡), 941 |
| remain 7D | 239, 386, 727, 772, 863, 904‡ | |
| remain 10D | 305 & 786, 407 & 321 & 689 (Orlando area), 850 & 448†, 954 & 754 | |
| Georgia | 7D ⇒ 10D | 478, 912 |
| remain 7D | 229‡ | |
| remain 10D | 404 & 770 & 678 & 470, 706 & 762 | |
| Indiana | 7D ⇒ 10D | 219, 574 |
| remain 7D | 260, 765 | |
| remain 10D | 317 & 463, 812 & 930 | |
| Iowa | 7D ⇒ 10D | 319, 515 |
| remain 7D | 563, 641, 712 | |
| Kansas | 7D ⇒ 10D | 620, 785 |
| remain 7D | 316, 913‡ | |
| Kentucky | 7D ⇒ 10D | 859 |
| remain 7D | 502, 606 | |
| remain 10D | 270 & 364 | |
| Louisiana | 7D ⇒ 10D | 337, 504 |
| remain 7D | 225, 318, 985 | |
| Massachusetts | 7D ⇒ 10D | (none) |
| remain 7D | 413 | |
| remain 10D | 508 & 774, 617 & 857, 781 & 339, 978 & 351 | |
| Michigan | 7D ⇒ 10D | 616, 810, 906, 989 |
| remain 7D | 231, 269, 313, 517, 586, 734 | |
| remain 10D | 248 & 947 | |
| Minnesota | 7D ⇒ 10D | 218, 952 |
| remain 7D | 320, 507‡, 612, 651, 763 | |
| Mississippi | 7D ⇒ 10D | 662 |
| remain 7D | 228 | |
| remain 10D | 601 & 769 | |
| Missouri | 7D ⇒ 10D | 314‡, 417, 660, 816‡ |
| remain 7D | 573‡, 636 | |
| Nebraska | 7D ⇒ 10D | (none) |
| remain 7D | 308 | |
| remain 10D | 402 & 531 | |
| New York | 7D ⇒ 10D | 516‡, 607, 716, 845‡, 914 |
| remain 7D | 585‡ | |
| remain 10D | 212 & 646 & 332✻, 315 & 680, 518 & 838, 631 & 934, 718 & 347 & 929✻, 917✻ | |
| North Carolina | 7D ⇒ 10D | 910 (& 472‡) |
| remain 7D | 252, 828 | |
| remain 10D | 336 & 743, 704 & 980, 919 & 984 | |
| Ohio | 7D ⇒ 10D | 440, 513 & 283 |
| remain 7D | 216‡ | |
| remain 10D | 330 & 234, 419 & 567, 614 & 380, 740 & 220, 937 & 326 | |
| Oklahoma | 7D ⇒ 10D | (none) |
| remain 7D | 580 | |
| remain 10D | 405 & 572†, 918 & 539 | |
| Pennsylvania | 7D ⇒ 10D | (none) |
| remain 7D | (none) | |
| keep 10D | 215 & 267 & 445, 412 & 724 & 878, 570 & 272, 610 & 484, 717 & 223, 814 & 582† | |
| South Carolina | 7D ⇒ 10D | (none) |
| remain 7D | 864‡ | |
| remain 10D | 803 & 839, 843 & 854 | |
| Tennessee | 7D ⇒ 10D | 731, 865 |
| remain 7D | 423, 901, 931 | |
| remain 10D | 615 & 629 | |
| Texas | 7D ⇒ 10D | 254, 361, 409, 806, 830, 915, 940 |
| remain 7D | 325, 432, 936, 956, 979 | |
| remain 10D | 210 & 726, 214 & 972 & 469 & 945, 512 & 737, 713 & 281 & 832 & 346, 817 & 682, 903 & 430 | |
| Utah | 7D ⇒ 10D | (none) |
| remain 7D | 435 | |
| remain 10D | 801 & 385 | |
| Virginia | 7D ⇒ 10D | 276, 540 & 826, 757 & 948, 804‡ |
| remain 7D | 434‡ | |
| remain 10D | 703 & 571 | |