North American telephone area codes 703 and 571 are Virginia overlay area codes which serve most telephone installations in northern Virginia, including the independent cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church and Manassas, as well as the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, parts of Fauquier, eastern Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford. Area code 703 was created as one of the original area codes in October 1947 for all of Virginia.
- Area code 804 was split from 703 on June 24, 1973.
- Area code 703 was again split on June 19, 1995 to form Area code 540.
- Area code 571 was created on March 1, 2000 as an overlay to area code 703.
The map to the right is clickable; click on an area code to go to the page for that code.
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Dialing requirements
Local calls, regardless of the area code, are dialed as ten digits, namely, area code and number. Long-distance calls are dialed as 11 digits, namely, 1 + area code + number. There is no longer 7-digit dialing from telephones in area code 703 or 571.[1]
Service areas
These area codes serve the following cities and towns in Virginia: Alexandria, Annandale, Ashburn, Burke, Centreville, Chantilly, Dale City, Fairfax, Falls Church, Franconia, Groveton, Herndon, Lake Ridge, Leesburg, Lorton, Manassas, McLean, Mount Vernon, North Springfield, Oakton, Occoquan, Reston, Springfield, Sterling, Vienna, West Springfield, and Woodbridge, as well as all or part of the following counties: Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford.
History
1973 split
In an area-code split on Sunday, June 24, 1973, which became mandatory on January 1, 1974[2], area code 703 was restricted to the northern and western regions of Virginia—from Arlington in the north down through Blacksburg and the southwestern region of the state—while the central (e.g., Richmond) and southeastern (e.g., Norfolk and Virginia Beach) portions of Virginia were split off and reassigned the 804 area code.
1995 split
On June 19, 1995, Bell Atlantic and GTE restricted the geographical region served by area code 703 to only northern Virginia exchanges, and assigned the other local exchanges formerly served by area code 703 to the 540 area code.
2000 overlay
Area code 571 was introduced on March 1, 2000 as an overlay to the region served by area code 703. Area code 571 serves most new telephone exchanges; while it is primarily associated with mobile telephone lines, it is also used for certain new landline exchanges, such as the telephone service for the United States Patent and Trademark Office since its move to Alexandria, and Fairfax County Public Schools, which moved their headquarters to the Falls Church postal zone (though outside the city itself) in 2006. Without the overlay, it would have been necessary to split area code 703 even further, to include only Alexandria and parts of Arlington.
Local service providers
Although former competitors Bell Atlantic (a former Baby Bell) and GTE had assigned geographical monopolies varying by region in Virginia, they merged in the late 1990s to form Verizon, now the dominant local telephone service provider throughout Virginia (including both of these area codes). Over 85% of all telephone numbers in both of these area codes are served by Verizon, a regulated monopoly.
Mobile phone service
However, mobile telephone service is provided with numbers assigned these area codes by various operators such as Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile, in addition to Verizon's subsidiary, Verizon Wireless.
Cable competition
Competition in the local telephone service market within these area codes has been joined by cable television operators such as Cox Communications, Comcast, and Verizon FiOS, which provide local telephone service running over their own broadband fiber optic telecommunication networks (which networks also provide cable television and high-speed internet services).
See also
References
- ^ NANPA Administration System: Area Code 703
- ^ "NANP Area Code History: 1970 - 1979," from areacode-info.com
External links
- NANPA Area Code Map of Virginia
- List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 571 Area Code
- List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 703 Area Code
| Commonwealth of Virginia Area Codes: 276, 434, 540, 571, 703, 757, 804 | ||
|---|---|---|
| North: 301/240 | ||
| West: 540 | area code 703/571 | East: 301/240, 202 |
| South: 540 | ||
| District of Columbia Area Code: 202 | ||
| State of Maryland Area Codes: 240, 301, 410, 443 | ||
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