Area codes 405 and 572 serve the central part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. They cover

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

and most of its suburbs, including Edmond, El Reno,

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

, Stillwater,

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

Chickasha Chickasha is a city in and the county seat of Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,051 at the 2020 census, a 0.1% increase from 2010. The city is named for and strongly connected to Native American heritage, as "Chicka ...

Tuttle Tuttle may refer to: Places Canada * Tuttle, Alberta United States * Tuttle, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Tuttle, California, an unincorporated community and census-designated place * Tuttle, Colorado, a ghost town * Tuttle, Oklaho ...

Moore Moore may refer to: Language * Mooré language, spoken in West Africa People * Moore (surname) ** List of people with surname Moore * Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador * Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior ...

, and Guthrie. The other three area codes serving Oklahoma are 918 and 539, which cover northeastern Oklahoma (including the city of

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

); and 580, which serves western and southern Oklahoma. Area code 405 was one of the original area codes put into service in 1947 by telecom giant

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

. Until January 1, 1953, it covered the entire state of Oklahoma. On that date, northeastern Oklahoma was assigned area code 918. Even though central Oklahoma was home to the great majority of 405's landlines and cell phones, this configuration remained unchanged for 44 years. On November 1, 1997, 405 was reduced to cover only central Oklahoma, while the southern and western portions of the old 405 became area code 580. As a result, 405 is the only area code in Oklahoma that does not border another state.

Projections

Despite the rapid growth of the Oklahoma City metro area and the proliferation of auxiliary devices (cell phones and pagers), 405 remained unchanged for over a quarter century. As of October 2017, 405 was projected to exhaust by the second quarter of 2021. At that time, an all-service overlay of 405 was recommended, which the

Oklahoma Corporation Commission The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is the public utilities commission of the U.S state of Oklahoma run by three statewide elected commissioners. Authorized to employ more than 500 employees, it regulates oil and gas drilling, utilities and tele ...

approved. On January 9, 2020 it was announced that area code 572 would overlay 405, and in January 2021

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 ...

became mandatory in central Oklahoma. The new area codes are assigned to new subscribers; anyone with an existing 405 number can keep it.

References

External links

List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 405 Area Code
405 405 Telecommunications-related introductions in 1947 Oklahoma City metropolitan area {{Oklahoma-stub