Area code 614

North American Area code 614 is the area code for Columbus, Ohio and most of its close-in suburbs.

Ohio was originally assigned four area codes when the area code system was instituted in 1947, one for each quadrant of the state. 614 originally covered the southeastern quadrant, from Columbus to the Ohio River along the West Virginia border.

In 1998, nearly all of the southern portion of the old 614 territory was split into the new area code 740. Ameritech, at that time the predominant incumbent local exchange carrier ("ILEC"), had proposed a split of 614 which generally would have seen Franklin, Delaware and Marion Counties retaining 614, with other suburban Columbus counties following the rural portion of the old 614 into the new 740. A complaint before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio claiming unequal treatment of the suburban counties was brought by Granville attorney J. Drew McFarland, later joined by the Village of Granville, Licking and Fairfield counties and others, wishing for an overlay area code. The PUCO instead reduced the 614 footprint to Columbus itself and Franklin County (with a subsequent appeal making a slight variation that allowed Dublin to retain 614). The case represented the first time nationally that an ILEC's plan was substantially modified by consumer action. McFarland v. Ameritech Ohio, PUCO 97-547-TP-CSS

As the code has been reduced in area to be all but synonymous with Columbus, Ohio, it appears on some T-shirt designs which use 614 as an abbreviation or short form to identify the city.^[1]

In 2001, plans were formulated to overlay area code 614 with 380, in anticipation of exhaustion. However, the anticipated growth did not materialize, and number pooling was instituted. On January 14, 2015 the PUCO instructed the telecommunications industry to implement the new area code effective February 27, 2016.^[2]

See also

• List of NANP area codes

References

• LincMad's Area Code Splits with details on 740 split
• PUCO announcement of 380 overlay (no longer available)
• PUCO announcement of 380 suspension
• AT&T Current status of Ohio's area codes

External links

• NANPA Area Code Map of Ohio
• List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 614 Area Code

Coordinates: 39°57′40″N 82°59′24″W / 39.96118°N 82.989942°W / 39.96118; -82.989942