Image: Renee Morin
By Carolyn Cadigan
The Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) announced on April 29 that Maine’s 207 area code will be preserved as the state’s one and only area code until 2045. The North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) released an updated forecast, determining a second area code would not be needed for 20 years. NANPA previously projected the 207 area code would be exhausted in 2036.
The PUC has been fighting to keep Maine’s lone area code. “The 207 area code is a valuable asset to Maine residents and businesses alike,” said PUC Chair Philip L. Bartlett II. Hundreds of companies in the state use the iconic area code in their business names or on their products.
Area codes were first established in 1947 for North America. The Bell System, part of the Bell Telephone Company, assigned 86 separate Numbering Plan Areas — 77 across the U.S. and nine in Canada. The second digit of each state area code was assigned either a “0” for states with only one area code or a “1” for states with multiple area codes. Maine was one of 40 states and provinces to have a single area code assigned.
Over the years, as states’ population size and density grew and as technology expanded to include various machines and devices, such as faxes, pagers, cell phones and the like, all utilizing dedicated phone numbers, additional area codes needed to be assigned. Today, only 11 states have a sole area code — Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming.
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