Area code 641

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Area code 641 is a telephone area code for a central portion of Iowa. The 641 area code was split off from Area code 515 in 2000. It includes Mason City.

The 641 area code was notable in that it marked the first time that a new area code had been created in Iowa since the establishment of the North American Numbering Plan in the 1940s.

Another notable feature of 641 is the presence of a large number of calling-card and conference service providers operating in this area code. When one calls a number to rural area in the 641 area code, the long distance provider has to pay the termination fee to the receiving telecom party: up to 8 cents a minute. Using this arbitrage, some of the service providers operate here and require one to dial the 'local access number' in 641 area code. Large telecom providers are the hardest hit with the costs for these so called free service providers. AT&T filed a suit to withhold these arbitrage payments (AT&T got a $2 million bill a month). (March 2007)

State of Iowa area codes: 319, 515, 563, 641, 712
	North: 507
West: 515, 712	area code 641	East: 319, 563
	South: 660
State of Minnesota area codes: 218, 320, 507, 612, 651, 763, 952
State of Missouri area codes: 314, 417, 573, 636, 660, 816