Area code 878

Area code 716 Area code 585 Area code 845 Area code 607 Area code 570 Area code 862/973 Area code 908 Area code 609 Area code 215/267 Area codes 484/610/835 Area code 717 Area code 302 Area code 856 Area code 412/878 Area code 814 Area code 410/443 Area code 240/301 Area code 440 Area code 234/330 Area code 304/681Area code 724
Pennsylvania in blue with Area Code 724 shown in red, to show the overlay with 878. This map is clickable; click on a neighboring area code to go to the page for that code.

Area code 878 is an overlay area code for area codes 412 and 724 in Southwestern Pennsylvania centered in Pittsburgh. It came into effect on August 17, 2001.

412 had served southwestern Pennsylvania for 41 years before 724 was created for most of the old 412 territory outside of Pittsburgh in 1998. Bell Atlantic (now part of Verizon), the main telephone provider in the area, wanted to implement 724 as an overlay to spare residents and businesses the burden of changing their numbers. However, overlays were still a new concept at the time, and met with considerable resistance due to the need for ten-digit dialing. Thus, the proposal was changed to a geographic split. Within two years, however, both 412 and 724 were on the verge of exhaustion due to the Pittsburgh area's rapid growth and the proliferation of cell phones and pagers. Overlays had gained more acceptance by then, so 878 was implemented as an overlay.

Although ten-digit dialing has been mandatory in southwestern Pennsylvania since 2001, no 878 numbers were assigned for more than a decade due to number-conservation procedures implemented in both Pittsburgh itself and the suburbs. On February 15, 2013, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission announced it would start to issue 878 numbers in the 724 territory sometime within the next year, as 724 is nearly exhausted.[1] At the moment, numbers from the 878 area code will not be assigned in Pittsburgh itself (the 412 area) until it runs out of numbers as well.[2]

The first 878 numbers were assigned in April 2013, nearly 12 years after the overlay was activated.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-11-03. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
  2. ↑ http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/western-pennsylvania-getting-new-area-code-thanks-/nWQJk/
  3. ↑ http://www.nanpa.com/reports/CAA_Report_April_2013.xls

See also

Pennsylvania area codes: 215, 267, 272, 412, 484, 570, 610, 717, 724, 814, 878
North: 814
West: 234/330, 304/681 Area code 878 (overlays 412 and 724) East: 814
South: 304/681
Ohio area codes: 216, 220, 234, 330, 419, 440, 513, 567, 614, 740, 937
West Virginia area codes: 304/681

Coordinates: 40°01′37″N 79°54′50″W / 40.027°N 79.914°W / 40.027; -79.914

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