Area codes 301 and 240

Area codes 301 and 240 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for parts of the U.S. state of Maryland. The numbering plan area (NPA) comprises the western part of the state, including Maryland's portion of the Greater Washington, D.C. metro area and portions of southern Maryland. This includes the communities of Cumberland, Frederick, Hagerstown, Gaithersburg, Potomac, Bethesda, Rockville, Landover and Silver Spring.

Area codes 215, 267, and 445Area code 856Area code 724Area code 202Area codes 757 and 948Area code 302Area codes 410, 443, and 667Area code 804Area code 434Area code 540
Maryland consists of the red and blue areas. The red area indicates area codes 240 and 301. This map is clickable; click on any neighboring area code to go to the page for that code.

History

Area code 301 was one of the original area codes established in 1947 when the NANP was created. Its original numbering plan area comprised the entire state of Maryland.

From 1947 to 1990, the telephone numbering plan of the entire Washington metropolitan area, including Washington, D.C. (area code 202), and the large suburban areas in Maryland and Virginia (area code 703), operated in a system of central office code protection, meaning that no central office code in Washington D.C., and in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs could exist in more than a single central office. As a result, it was possible for telephone users in the metropolitan area to dial any other telephone number in the area as a local call with only seven digits, without using an area code. The entire metro area was reachable via long-distance services by dialing area code 202, for which purpose AT&T had established cross-referenced operator routing codes for all affected central offices.[1] For example, if 202-574 numbers were in use in the district or 703-574 numbers were in use in Northern Virginia, the corresponding 301-574 numbering block could only be assigned in areas considered a safe distance away from the capital, such as the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

By the end of the 1980s, the Washington metropolitan area was running out of prefixes. This code exhaustion was mitigated on October 1, 1990, by removing code protection in 202. As of that date, all local metro area calls between Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia required dialing the area code for calls to another NPA. Area code 202 was no longer useable for suburban points. Local calls within Maryland did not require the area code.[2]

Despite the overall growth of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area, 301 remained the exclusive area code for Maryland for 44 years, making Maryland one of the largest states with a single area code. By the end of the 1980s, however, it became apparent that breaking seven-digit dialing in the Washington area would not free up enough numbers to stave off the need for a new area code.

Baltimore and the Eastern Shore were split off as a new numbering plan area with area code 410 on October 6, 1991. The split largely followed metro area lines. However, part of Howard County, which is recognized as part of the Baltimore area, stayed in 301, while the rest shifted to 410.[3] Normally, when an area code is split, the largest city in the old numbering plan area retains the existing area code—in this case, Baltimore. However, it was decided to let the Washington suburbs keep 301. Not only do the Washington suburbs have the bulk of the state's population, but Bell Atlantic (now Verizon) wanted to spare the large number of federal agencies on the Maryland side of the metro the expense and burden of having to change their numbers.

This was intended as a long-term solution, but within four years 301 was close to exhaustion due to the proliferation of cell phones and pagers, especially in the Washington suburbs. To solve this problem, area code 240 was introduced on June 1, 1997, as the state's first overlay area code.[4] Overlays were a new concept at the time, and met with some resistance due to the requirement for ten-digit dialing. For this reason, conventional wisdom would have suggested a split in which the Washington suburbs would have kept 301 while Frederick and points west would have shifted to 240. However, Bell Atlantic wanted to spare residents the burden of having to change their numbers.

Number exhaustion of the overlay complex 301/240 is not expected before 2025. However, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator has assigned area code 227 for further overlay relief action when needed.

Service area

The counties served by area codes 301 and 240 include Allegany, Charles, Frederick,[lower-alpha 1] Garrett, Howard,[lower-alpha 1] Montgomery, Prince George's, St. Mary's, Washington, and a very small portions of southwestern Carroll County[lower-alpha 1] and western Anne Arundel County.[lower-alpha 1]

Local calls require ten-digit dialing (area code + number, leading "1" is not required).

Notes
  1. Four counties were split between area code 301 and 410.
    • Anne Arundel County was assigned area code 410, except Laurel exchanges 210, 317, 490, 497, 498, 596, 604, 725, and 778 and Marlboro exchange 952 remained area code 301.
    • Carroll County was assigned area code 410, except Mount Airy exchange 829 remained area code 301.
    • Howard County was assigned area code 410, except Mount Airy exchange 829 and Laurel exchanges 210, 317, 490, 497, 598, 604, 725, and 776 remained area code 301.
    • Frederick County remained area code 301, except Union Bridge exchange 775 and New Windsor exchange 635 was assigned 410.[5]
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References
  1. AT&T Long Lines, Distance Dialing Reference Guide (April 1974)
  2. Jordan, Mary; Quimpo, Margie G. (September 23, 1990). "Territorial Telephones; On Oct. 1, Local Calls Will Get Complicated". The Washington Post. p. 1.
  3. "Bellcore Letter IL-90/12-049" (PDF). North American Numbering Plan Administration. Neustar. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  4. "Bellcore Letter IL 96/06-009" (PDF). North American Numbering Plan Administration. Neustar. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  5. "New area code for eastern Maryland". The Baltimore Sun. November 1, 1991. p. 1A.
Maryland area codes: 240/301, 410/443/667
North: 223/717, 412/724/878, 814
West: 202, 304/681, 540, 571/703 area codes 240/301 East: 410/443/667
South: 804, 304/681
District of Columbia area codes: 202
Pennsylvania area codes: 215/267/445, 223/717, 272/570, 412, 484/610, 724, 814, 878
Virginia area codes: 276, 434, 540, 571/703, 757/948, 804
West Virginia area codes: 304/681
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