Area code 780 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the Canadian province of Alberta. The numbering plan area comprises the northern two thirds of the province, including the Edmonton area. The area code was established in 1999 in a split of area code 403, which had served the entire province since the establishment of the original North American area codes in 1947. The numbering plan area is also served by area codes 587, 825, and 368, which form a complex overlay for all of Alberta.
When in 1947, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) announced plans for organizing the telephone networks of North American into a unified continental telephone numbering plan, Alberta was recognized as a single numbering plan area (NPA), receiving area code 403, as one of the original eighty-six area codes. In addition to the province, this included also the Yukon, and the western half of the Northwest Territories. It was the second-largest numbering plan area in the system and spanned more than one ninth of the circumference of the planet, from the 49th parallel north to the North Pole. On October 3, 1997, the numbering plan area was reduced to just the province of Alberta, and the Canadian territories were split off with the new area code 867.
Within only a year, area code 403 was threatened by exhaustion because of the rapid growth of telecommunication services demand for pagers, cellphones, and computer modems, as well as growing competition among providers.
For mitigating the threat of exhaustion, the northern two thirds of Alberta, including Edmonton, was split from 403 on January 25, 1999, receiving the new area code 780. Generally, everything from Red Deer, Lacombe, and Ponoka southward stayed in 403. Permissive dialing of 403 continued across the province until May 18, 1999. Area code 780 started use on January 25, 1999. Generally, everything north and west of Ponoka switched to 780. Permissive dialing of 403 continued throughout Alberta until May 18, 1999. Area code 780 is also the last new area code in Canada to be introduced by a split.
Within a decade, area code 780 was close to exhaustion once again, along with area 403 in the south. The solution for mitigation was to implement a complex overlay for the entire province, extending over both numbering plan areas, with the new area code 587. [1] [2] [3] Optional ten-digit dialing began on June 23, 2008 and became mandatory on September 12, 2008. [4] On September 20, 2008, Telus Mobility began to assign 587 telephone numbers to new customers in Calgary and Edmonton.
On April 9, 2016, all three numbering plan areas of the province were overlaid with an additional area code, 825. [5]
On January 21, 2022, the province was once again overlaid with another area code, 368. [6] [7]
The incumbent local exchange carrier in area code 780 is Telus. [8] Until its merger with Telus in 1995, over three years prior to the startup of 780, the municipally-owned Edmonton Telephones (Ed Tel) served as an ILEC.
Area codes 519, 226, 548, and 382 are overlay telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for most of southwestern Ontario.
In telecommunications, an area code overlay complex is a telephone numbering plan that assigns multiple area codes to a geographic numbering plan area (NPA). Area code overlays are implemented in territories of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) to mitigate exhaustion of central office codes in growth areas. The method has been in use since 1992, and has been the preferred and exclusive method of relief since 2007.
Ten-digit dialing is a telephone dialing procedure in the countries and territories that are members of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). It is the practice of including the area code of a telephone number when dialing to initiate a telephone call. When necessary, the ten-digit number may be prefixed with the trunk code 1, which is referred to as 1+10-digit dialing or national format.
Area code 867 is the area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the three Canadian territories, all of which are in Northern Canada. The area code was created on October 21, 1997, by combining regions that were previously served with area code 403 and area code 819 in one numbering plan area (NPA). As the least populated NPA in mainland North America, serving about 100,000 people, it is geographically the largest, at 3,921,739 km2 (1,514,192 sq mi), with Alaska (907) a distant second.
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Area code 403 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the Canadian province of Alberta. The numbering plan area encompasses the southern third of the province, which includes the Calgary area. This numbering plan area is also served by area codes 587, 825, and 368, which form a complex overlay for all of Alberta.
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Area code 604 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan for southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The numbering plan area comprises the Lower Mainland, Sunshine Coast, Howe Sound / Sea to Sky Corridor, Fraser Valley and the lower Fraser Canyon regions. The major city is Vancouver. The area code is one of the nine original North American area codes assigned to Canada in 1947.
Area codes 587, 825, and 368 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the entire Canadian province of Alberta. They form an overlay with area code 403 of southern Alberta, and northern Alberta's 780. The complex overlay involving a total of five area codes in Alberta mandated ten-digit dialing throughout the province.
North: 867 | ||
West: 250/778/236/672 | 780/368/587/825 | East: 306/639 |
South: 403/368/587/825 | ||
British Columbia area codes: 236/672/778, 250, 604 | ||
Saskatchewan area codes: 306, 639 | ||
Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut area codes: 867 |