This is a list of area codes in the state of Georgia.
Contents |
History
Georgia was first supplied with only one area code, 404, in 1947. In 1954, 912 was given to its southern and central areas.
The state would operate with two area codes until May 3, 1992, when 706 was created for the two separate areas outside of the metro Atlanta area. Due to complaints from exurban residents who were to be put in 706, they were moved back into 404, which makes every new area code added to the metro area run out of numbers sooner. At this time, these areas were also fully included in what was already the world's largest toll-free local calling zone (previously many were only able to call the adjacent telephone exchanges on the edge of metro Atlanta). Area code 770 was therefore assigned to Atlanta's suburbs just three years later in August 1995, requiring ten-digit dialing between them, and with all mobile phones keeping 404. 678 was given to both the city and its suburbs in January 1998, becoming the first overlay area code in the state, and forcing mandatory ten-digit dialing for all calls.
Flip-flopping on its position on assigning new area codes, the Georgia Public Service Commission dictated that a double split of 912 would occur after that, with 229 and 478 being applied to southwest Georgia and middle Georgia in August 2000. With the GPSC reversing course a third time, 470 became the second area code to overlay Atlanta in September 2001, but after eight more years is still unused as of 2009.[1] In September 2005, 762 was overlaid to all of the existing area code 706, despite the fact that that it has been physically split into two separate and disconnected sections since it was created in 1992. [2]
There are currently nine area codes serving Georgia, with no plans for new ones, aside from eventually assigning telephone numbers within 470. (The next area code to exhaust should be 229, which is currently estimated for 2015[3]). When this occurs, it is likely to cause confusion (and therefore misdialed calls) with 404 (due to local shorthand using only the first digit of the area code), 770 (due to having most of the digits the same, and the way some people write "4" and "7" nearly alike), and 478 (which looks nearly identical to 470, especially on certain display devices).
List of area codes
- 229 - Albany, Thomasville, Valdosta, Tifton, Fitzgerald and Americus (southwest Georgia)
- 404 - Atlanta and immediate environs (central Fulton and DeKalb counties)
- 470 - Atlanta and its suburbs, unused overlay area code that covers same area as 404, 678 and 770
- 478 - Macon, Forsyth, Fort Valley, Warner Robins, Dublin, Eastman and Milledgeville (middle Georgia)
- 706 - Columbus (west-central Georgia);
Rome, Dahlonega, Toccoa, Athens and Augusta (northwest, northeast, upper east-central Georgia) - 678 - Atlanta and its suburbs, overlay area code that covers the same area as 404 and 770
- 762 - same boundaries as 706
- 770 - Atlanta's suburbs and exurbs
- 912 - Savannah, Vidalia, Waycross, Brunswick, Douglas and southeastern and coastal Georgia.
Cellphones in metro Atlanta may now have 404, 770, or 678, after originally being kept in 404 by BellSouth.
See also
References
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