Area code 970 is a 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 ...
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 the western and northern parts of the
U.S. of
State of Colorado. The
numbering plan area includes
Aspen
Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus.
Species
These species are called aspens:
* ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'')
* ''Populus da ...
,
Breckenridge,
Durango
Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...
,
Estes Park
Estes Park () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory town, statutory town in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 5,904 at the 2020 United States census. Estes Park is a part of the Fort Collins, CO Metropo ...
,
Fort Collins,
Glenwood Springs,
Grand Junction,
Greeley,
Loveland,
Silverthorne,
Steamboat Springs, and
Vail.
History
Area code 970 was established on April 2, 1995 in an
area code split of
area code 303, which was retained by the
Denver metropolitan area.
In 2023, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator estimated that area code 970 would reach numbering exhaustion by 2026. On December 18, 2023, the
Colorado Public Utilities Commission approved the addition of area code 748 for the all-services distributed overlay of NPA 970.
The overlay complex is scheduled for service on July 7, 2025. No central office codes of area code 748 may be installed before complete exhaustion of area code 970.
Ten-digit dialing
Area code 970 has PCS telephone numbers assigned for the central office code 988 in the Fort Collins exchange. As of October 17, 2020, ''988'' has been assigned by law as a three-digit code for the
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. To avoid conflicts in switching systems, the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
ordered telecommunication carriers of 83 area codes, including 970, to transition to
ten-digit dialing, even when the area code is not involved in an
overlay complex. Per the timeline set by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, permissive dialing began on April 24, 2021 and ten-digit dialing has been required from October 24, 2021.
See also
*
Geography of Colorado
*
List of Colorado area codes
*
List of North American Numbering Plan area codes
The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) divides the territories of its members into geographic numbering plan areas (NPAs). Each NPA is identified by one or more numbering plan area codes (''NPA codes'', or ''area code
A telephone numbering plan ...
*
List of populated places in Colorado
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Area Code 970
970
970
Telecommunications-related introductions in 1995