Area codes 215 and 267

Area code 716 Area code 585 Area code 845 Area code 607 Area code 908 Area code 609 Area code 717 Area code 302 Area code 856 Area code 412/878 Area code 814 Area code 724/878 Area code 440 Area code 215
Pennsylvania in blue with Area Code 215 shown in red. This map is clickable; click on a neighboring area code to go to the page for that code.

215 and 267 are the North American telephone area codes for the City of Philadelphia and the northern and eastern municipalities in Bucks and Montgomery Counties in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Area code 215 was one of the original area codes established in 1947 and originally included the entire southeastern part of the Commonwealth, from the Delaware border to the Lehigh Valley. Given the rotary dialing technology in use at the time, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator wanted to keep the number of "clicks" to a minimum for large cities.[1] For this reason, Philadelphia was given an area code with eight clicks.

On January 8, 1994, the area served by 215 was split. Most of its western portion--Philadelphia's southern and western suburbs, most of Berks County and the Lehigh Valley--changed to area code 610, while Philadelphia and its northern suburbs remained 215.

This was intended as a long-term solution, but within two years 215 was close to exhaustion due to the rapid growth of the Philadelphia area and the proliferation of cell phones and pagers. The supply of numbers was further limited because the entire state of Delaware is part of the Philadelphia LATA, meaning several exchanges in Delaware's 302 weren't available for use. To solve the problem, overlay code 267 was established July 1, 1997.

Area code 445 was proposed in July 2000 as an overlay with area codes 215 and 267.[2] However, these plans were delayed and then rescinded in 2003 by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.[3]

Counties served

215 is the original area code of Philadelphia, 267 was added in 1997.

The 215/267 area codes serve all or part of five counties in Pennsylvania.[4]


Places with over 30,000 inhabitants

See also

References

  1. ↑ Darling, David (2004). The Universal Book of Mathematics: From Abracadabra to Zeno's Paradoxes. John Wiley & Sons. p. 23. ISBN 0471270474. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  2. ↑ NPA 445 to Overlay NPAs 215 and 267 (Pennsylvania) / NPA 835 to Overlay NPAs 610 and 484 (Pennsylvania) PDF (582 KiB)
  3. ↑ PA 445 Implementation for 215/267 NPA Rescinded — 445 NPA Code Reclaimed PDF (64.5 KiB)
  4. ↑ Area Code 215 and 267 Map (Map). Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. Retrieved June 22, 2011.

External links

Pennsylvania area codes: 215, 267, 412, 484, 570, 610, 717, 724, 814, 878
North: 484/610/835, 908
West: 484/610/835 215/267 East: 609
South: 856
New Jersey area codes: 201, 551, 609, 732, 848, 856, 862, 908, 973

Coordinates: 39°59′24″N 75°09′14″W / 39.990°N 75.154°W