Area code 770
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Area code 770is atelephonearea codein theNorth American Numbering Plan(NANP) serving all or part of 29 counties in NorthGeorgia,including most ofAtlanta's suburbs. It was created in 1995 in a split of numbering plan area (NPA)404.
History[edit]
When the North American Numbering Plan was created in October 1947, all of Georgia was served by area code 404. In 1954, 404 was reduced to the northern half of the state, withMaconand points south splitting off asarea code 912.The remaining 404 territory remained unchanged until 1992, when most of the area outside of the immediateAtlanta metropolitan areawas split off witharea code 706.This was intended as a long-term solution to relieve number shortages in exchanges in North Georgia.
When 706 was created, it included several fast-growingexurbsof Atlanta. Residents of these areas complained about no longer being associated with the better-known area code 404, prompting BellSouth to return these areas to 404 soon after the split. However, even before the creation of 706, 404 was close to exhaustion due to the proliferation ofcell phones,fax machines,and pagers in the fast-growing Atlanta area. BellSouth and theGeorgia Public Service Commissionwere well aware of this, and had already planned to create a new area code for the Atlanta suburbs later in the decade. However, the restoration of the exurban areas from 706 forced further relief action sooner than anticipated.
As a result, just three years later, in 1995, almost all of Atlanta's suburban ring was split off as area code 770.[1]
Atlanta was the first city in the United States to have mandatory ten-digit dialing throughout its metro area, roughly coinciding with the1996 Summer Olympicsin Atlanta. Atlanta was used as the test case not only for its size, but also because it enjoyed the world's largestfiber opticbundle at the time (five times that of New York), and it was home to BellSouth (now part ofAT&T), then the Southeastern Regional Bell Operating Company.
An additional NPA was added to both metro Atlanta overlay areas in 2022. Area code 943 entered service on March 15, 2022.[2]
Service area[edit]
Numbering plan area 770 completely surrounds 404. The two plan areas are separated roughly byInterstate 285,known locally as the Perimeter. Generally, 770 includes most of the metro area outside the Perimeter, while 404 serves Atlanta itself and most suburbs inside the Perimeter; a few cities are split between the two codes. Both codes areoverlaidby678, 470, and 943.The metro Atlanta region (404, 770, 678/470/943) is one of the largestlocal calling areasin the United States; with few exceptions, nolong-distancecharges are applied for calls from one portion of the metro to the other. Parts of 706/762 and northAlabama's256/938are local calls to Atlanta as well.[3]
When the Atlanta area was originally divided in 1995, most cellphones stayed with 404, which balanced the fact that most of thelandlinearea went to 770.
Area code 770 serves a numbering plan area that comprises the counties ofBarrow,Bartow,Butts,Carroll,Cherokee,Clayton(part witharea code 404),Cobb,Coweta,Dawson,DeKalb(part witharea code 404),Douglas,Fayette,Forsyth,Fulton(part witharea code 404),Gwinnett,Hall,Haralson,Heard(part witharea codes 706 and 762),Henry,Lamar,Meriwether(part witharea codes 706 and 762),Newton,Oconee,Paulding,Pike,Polk,Rockdale,Spalding,andWalton.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^"770 comes on line with little trouble; Anticlimax: Only about 1,000 people call BellSouth as new area code goes into effect".The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. December 2, 1995. p. D2.
- ^"Planning Letter 559"(PDF).North American Numbering Plan Administrator.Retrieved24 June2021.
- ^"Local Calling Guide".Local Calling Guide.Retrieved8 December2022.
External links[edit]
| North:706/762 | ||
| West:256/938 | 770and678/470/943 surrounds404 |
East:706/762 |
| South:478,706/762 | ||
| Alabamaarea codes:205/659,251,256/938,334 | ||