Area codes 214, 469, 972, and 945 are telephone

area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

s in the

North American Numbering Plan The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is an integrated telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1, World Numbering Zone ...

(NANP) for

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

and most of the eastern portion of the

Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States, ...

. The area codes are assigned in an

overlay complex In telecommunications, an area code overlay complex is a telephone numbering plan that assigns multiple area codes to the same geographic numbering plan area (NPA). Area code overlays are implemented in territories of the North American Numbe ...

to a single numbering plan area that was the core of one of the original area codes of 1947, area code 214.

History

The original configuration of the first nationwide

telephone numbering plan A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, reach ...

in 1947 divided the state of Texas into four numbering plan areas (NPAs) with area codes 214 (north-east), 512 (south-central), 713 (south-east), and

915 Year 915 ( CMXV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Battle of Garigliano: The Christian League, personally led by Pope John X, lays siege to Garigliano (a fortified Ar ...

(north-west and west), respectively. Numbering plan area 214 extrended roughly from a line just west of

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

to Waco, to the borders of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. In 1954, most of Tarrant County was combined with much of the eastern region of area code 915 to form area code 817. Despite the growth of the Dallas metropolitan area in the second half of the 20th century, this configuration remained in place for thirty six years. In 1990, the entire eastern portion of the 214 area was split off with area code 903. The 1990 split was intended as a long-term solution, but within five years 214 was close to exhaustion due to the rapid growth of the Metroplex as well as the popularity of cell phones, fax machines and pagers. As a remedy, all of the old 214 territory outside Dallas and Dallas County was split off with area code 972 in 1996. Within only two years, however, both 214 and 972 were on the verge of exhaustion again. Area code 469 was introduced on July 1, 1999, in an

overlay plan In telecommunications, an area code overlay complex is a telephone numbering plan that assigns multiple area codes to the same geographic numbering plan area (NPA). Area code overlays are implemented in territories of the North American Numbe ...

for most of the eastern portion of the Metroplex. At the same time, the 214/972 boundary was "erased," and 972 was converted into an additional overlay for the entire region. The result was three area codes overlaying the same area, with

ten-digit dialing Ten-digit dialing is a telephone dialing procedure in the countries and territories of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). It is the practice of including the area code of a telephone number when Dialling (telephony), dialing to initiate a t ...

required for all calls. Since 2000, 214 and 972 have served as overlays for portions of eastern Tarrant County ( Arlington,

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

, Euless,

Grapevine ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 81 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, bot ...

, Southlake, and Colleyville) which are closer to Dallas. While this had the effect of allocating over 23 million numbers to an area of just over nine million people, under 2018 projections, the Dallas area would need a fourth area code by mid-2021. Area code 945 was selected as the fourth area code in the Dallas overlay, after receiving approval from the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Central office code assignments for NPA 945 have been available since January 15, 2021, but can only be requested after all existing area codes are exhausted. Projections of 2023 suggested that a fifth area code is not needed until around 2032.

Service area

Counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

served by these area codes are : Collin,

, Denton, Ellis,

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

, Kaufman, Navarro, Rockwall and generally eastern parts of Tarrant. Towns and cities served are: * Addison * Allen * Anna * Arlington * Avalon * Bardwell *

* Blue Ridge * Carrollton * Cedar Hill * Celina * Cockrell Hill * Colleyville * Combine * Copeville * Coppell * Crandall *

* DeSoto * Duncanville *

Elmo Elmo is a Muppet character on the children's television show ''Sesame Street''. A furry red monster who speaks in a high-pitched falsetto voice and frequently refers to himself in the third person, he hosts the last full 15-minute segmen ...

Ennis Ennis ( , meaning 'island' or 'river meadow') is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in Cou ...

* Euless *

Farmers Branch Farmers Branch, officially the City of Farmers Branch, is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. It is an Inner suburb, inner-ring suburb of Dallas and is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 35,991 at the 2020 cen ...

* Farmersville *

Fate Destiny, sometimes also called fate (), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predeterminism, predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words wiktionary ...

* Ferris * Flower Mound * Forney * Forreston * Frisco *

Garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. In contemporary times ...

* Glenn Heights * Grand Prairie *

* Highland Park * Highland Village * Hurst * Hutchins * Irving *

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

* Josephine * Kaufman * Lancaster * Lavon * Lewisville * Little Elm *

Lucas Lucas or LUCAS may refer to: People * Lucas (surname) * Lucas (given name) Arts and entertainment * Luca Family Singers, or the Lucas, a 19th-century African-American singing group * Lucas, a 1960s Swedish pop group formed by Janne Lucas Perss ...

* Maypearl *

McKinney McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas, United States. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano, Texas, Plano and Frisco, Texas, Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about ...

Melissa Melissa is a feminine given name. The name comes from the Greek language, Greek word μέλισσα (''mélissa''), "bee", which in turn comes from μέλι (''meli''), "honey". In Hittite language, Hittite, ''melit'' signifies "honey". Meliss ...

Mesquite Mesquite is a common name for some plants in the genera ''Neltuma'' and '' Strombocarpa'', which contain over 50 species of spiny, deep-rooted leguminous shrubs and small trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. Until 2022, these ge ...

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

* Milford * Murphy *

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

* Oak Leaf * Palmer * Pecan Hill * Plano * Princeton * Prosper * Red Oak *

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

* Richardson * Rockwall * Rosser * Rowlett * Royse City * Sachse * Scurry * Seagoville * Sunnyvale * Talty * Terrell * The Colony * University Park *

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

* Waxahachie *

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * W ...

* Wilmer * Wylie In addition,

Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is the primary international airport serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and the North Texas region, in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest hub for American Airlines, which is headquarte ...

is served by area code 972.

References

External links

{{Area code box, State=TX , This=214/469/945/972 , N= 430/ 903, 940 , S= 254, 430/ 903 , E= 430/ 903 , W= 254, 682/817, 940 Dallas 214, 469, 945, and 972 214 Telecommunications-related introductions in 1947 Telecommunications-related introductions in 1996 Telecommunications-related introductions in 1999 Telecommunications-related introductions in 2020

History

Service area

See also

References

External links