Area codes 803 and 839 are

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into el ...

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, re ...

s in the

North American Numbering Plan The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is a 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 and has the international calling ...

(NANP) for 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 sove ...

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = G ...

. The numbering plan area (NPA) is anchored by the city of

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

, the state capital. It also includes most of the South Carolina portions of the

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

and

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georg ...

metropolitan areas. 839, an all-service overlay, was approved by the South Carolina Public Service Commission in 2019. NANP803(SC)1952

Area code 803 is one of the original 86 area codes assigned in 1947, when it was assigned to serve the entire state. In 1995, the Upstate was split off into a separate numbering plan area with area code 864. Until then, South Carolina had been one of the most populated states with just one area code. While this was intended as a long-term solution, the rapid growth of telecommunication service in Columbia and the coastal region, forced additional mitigation action for 803 within two years. As a result, in 1998 the coastal region was assigned area code 843. In May 2020, numbering plan area 803 was converted into an

overlay plan Overlay may refer to: Computers * Overlay network, a computer network which is built on top of another network * Hardware overlay, one type of video overlay that uses memory dedicated to the application *Another term for exec, replacing one proce ...

by adding area code 839 to the plan area. The new area code is used for new subscribers. This implementation made

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

mandatory in the numbering plan area as of April 2020. Previously, a permissive ten-digit dialing began in late October 2019.

Service area

Major cities

* Aiken ''pop. 29,494'' *

''pop. 133,803'' * Rock Hill ''pop. 74,342'' * Sumter ''pop. 40,524''

Counties

* Richland * Sumter * Kershaw * Fairfield *

Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

* Clarendon * Orangeburg * Calhoun * Lexington * Aiken *

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

* Newberry * Barnwell *

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castl ...

* Edgefield

References

External links

*
List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 803 Area Code
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803 __NOTOC__ Year 803 ( DCCCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Emperors Nikephoros I and Charlemagne settle their imperial boundaries i ...

Telecommunications-related introductions in 1947