Area codes 304 and 681

North American telephone area code 304 was established October 1947 as one of the original area codes, and serves all of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It was overlaid with area code 681, effective March 28, 2009.

In 2007, news reports indicated that West Virginia would soon need a new area code.^[1][2]

On January 29, 2008, the West Virginia Public Service Commission voted 2-1 for a split of the existing 304 area code, with the one dissenting vote for an overlay. However, telecommunications providers were overwhelmingly in favor of an overlay, and were still able to ask the Commission to reconsider, or appeal to the West Virginia State Supreme Court, for an overlay instead of a split.

Over the following two weeks, numerous state and local government officials, and various business interests, voiced strong opposition to a split of 304, in favor of an overlay. Even Governor Joe Manchin voiced his support of an overlay. Several telecommunications providers then officially appealed to the Public Service Commission for an overlay, which was unanimously approved by all three commissioners on February 13, 2008. It was the first example of an entire state previously only served by a single code being overlaid.

At one time, 932 was reserved for use as a future area code in West Virginia, but there has since been a 304-932 exchange code assigned in Charleston.

Implementation dates for 681 code

Implementation dates for permissive and mandatory ten-digit local dialing, as well as the effective date of the overlay, were announced in Neustar NANPA's Planning Letter #375, issued March 21, 2008.^[3]

• Permissive ten-digit local dialing of numbers in the existing 304 area code would begin no later than July 26, 2008. (During this period, local 304 calls could still be dialed with just seven digits.)
• Mandatory ten-digit local dialing of existing 304 numbers took effect on February 28, 2009. (Calls within 304 dialed with just seven digits were no longer allowed.)
• New numbers with the 681 area code became available on March 28, 2009, one month after the start of mandatory ten-digit dialing.
• A test number for determining if routing to the new area code is in effect from any West Virginia telephone number, 681-990-TEST (8378), went into service on December 28, 2008 and remained active through June 28, 2009.

References

External links

• NANPA Area Code Map of West Virginia
• List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 304 Area Code