area code numbering

[Europe]

i am planning to buy a prepaid cell phone during my trip to New York. But i mostly use the cell phone at my home in Florida.

What area code phone number will i get when buying a prepaid cell in New York?

Dont know how thats works in the US!

need some advise!

[Matt]

The US doesn't use dedicated area codes for prepaid services, so you'll get whatever is available in the pool of numbers owned by the carrier you choose.

[Europe]

ok, so it doesnt matter if i buy in New York or in Florida?

for example:
When i buy a T-mobile prepaid in New York; will i pay more per minute then when i buy the same phone , same prepaid in Florida? Were i live!

[Mobile Mike]

Originally Posted by Europe

ok, so it doesnt matter if i buy in New York or in Florida?

for example:
When i buy a T-mobile prepaid in New York; will i pay more per minute then when i buy the same phone , same prepaid in Florida? Were i live!

Prepaid plan prices aren't based on location, it's whatever the carrier's prices are for their service. Wherever you get your phone, ask for a number in the location you choose. There may be some requirements (such as an address for the area you want the number from) or it may not matter at all.

Ask the prepaid carrier of your choice what you want to do and let them advise you of your options. It wouldn't hurt to ask them if it's possible to get a number in the area of your choice.

[COtech]

Europe,

If you would like to see the NPA-NXX (area code and exchange) combinations your chosen carrier has in your spot in Florida, then you need to visit the web site of the North American Numbering Plan Administrator.

On their home page chose "Central Office Code Reports". On that page chose "Utilized Codes Report", and enter the state and area code you are interested in. At the bottom of that report is an option to download the screen full of data as an Excel .xls file. You can sort that file by city and by carrier and by exchange in Excel using the Data submenu.

COtech

[Telekom]

Originally Posted by Europe

i am planning to buy a prepaid cell phone during my trip to New York. But i mostly use the cell phone at my home in Florida.

What area code phone number will i get when buying a prepaid cell in New York?

Dont know how thats works in the US!

need some advise!

Depends where you are in New York. If you're in Manhattan you'll probably be assigned 646 or 917. If you're in the Bronx, Brooklyn or Queens you might be assigned 347, 718 or 917.

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by Europe

i am planning to buy a prepaid cell phone during my trip to New York. But i mostly use the cell phone at my home in Florida.

What area code phone number will i get when buying a prepaid cell in New York?

Dont know how thats works in the US!

need some advise!

An aspect of this that hasn't been mentioned is the location of the people you expect to be calling your cell phone. If they are spread out around the country, or also using cell phones, it probably doesn't matter, since most cell subscribers these days have national calling plans that allow you to call any US area code from any US area code for the same price.

But if you will have a small number of callers from primarily land lines, the area code of your phone matters. They are either calling long distance or they are not, and their cost does vary. Of course, in areas with area code overlays, typically there isn't a long-distance charge from one to the other (e.g. 212 calling 646). But a land line in 212 will pay more to call your Florida cell phone than to a NY cell phone (and the reverse from a Florida land line). Considering that, it may be better for you to have either a Florida area code or a NY area code.

Hope this was clear.

SW

[Telekom]

Originally Posted by SteveW

An aspect of this that hasn't been mentioned is the location of the people you expect to be calling your cell phone. If they are spread out around the country, or also using cell phones, it probably doesn't matter, since most cell subscribers these days have national calling plans that allow you to call any US area code from any US area code for the same price.

But if you will have a small number of callers from primarily land lines, the area code of your phone matters. They are either calling long distance or they are not, and their cost does vary. Of course, in areas with area code overlays, typically there isn't a long-distance charge from one to the other (e.g. 212 calling 646). But a land line in 212 will pay more to call your Florida cell phone than to a NY cell phone (and the reverse from a Florida land line). Considering that, it may be better for you to have either a Florida area code or a NY area code.

Hope this was clear.

SW

http://dictionary.babylon.com/inter-LATA long distance may be less than intra-LATA http://www.tiaonline.org/market_inte...T_%5BQR%2BL%0A long distance. If the person who has the land line has done any research they should be able to get calls for 5¢/minute or less.

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by Telekom

Inter-LATA long distance may be less than intra-LATA long distance. If the person who has the land line has done any research they should be able to get calls for 5¢/minute or less.

I just read the LATA article in Wikipedia, and I don't claim to fully understand it. I got that they are not the same as area codes, and the following, which I understood was your point (from Wikipedia: Local access and transport area):

LATAs contribute to an often confusing aspect of long distance telephone service. Due to the various and overlapping regulatory limitations and inter-business arrangements, phone companies typically provide differing types of “long distance” service, each with potentially different rates:

* within same LATA, within same state
* within same LATA, between different states
* between different LATAs, within same state
* between different LATAs, between different states

Given the complexity of the legal and financial issues involved in each distinction, many long distance companies tend to not explain the details of these different rates, which can lead to billing questions from surprised customers.

I'm not sure if this helps the OP, but it's worth keeping in mind. Again, this primarily applies to land lines. Thanks.


SW

[Telekom]

Originally Posted by SteveW

I just read the LATA article in Wikipedia, and I don't claim to fully understand it. I got that they are not the same as area codes, and the following, which I understood was your point (from Wikipedia: Local access and transport area):



I'm not sure if this helps the OP, but it's worth keeping in mind. Again, this primarily applies to land lines. Thanks.


SW

Basically, a LATA i.e. Local Access and Transport Area means areas that are somewhat "common" to each other. This can mean that they might not even be in the same state e.g. Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon or Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Kittery, Maine. Sometimes (like in Maine) the whole state is one LATA. More commonly LATAs are smaller areas.

[willsr]

The cities named after the colons are where the switches for the area code is located.

201 NJ N New Jersey: Newark
202 DC Washington, D.C.
203 CT Connecticut
204 Manitoba
205 AL Alabama (if you know where the switch for this is, email me)
206 WA W Washington state: Seattle
207 ME Maine
208 ID Idaho
209 CA Cent. California: Fresno
210 TX S Texas: San Antonio
212 NY New York City, New York
213 CA Los Angeles, California
214 TX Mid NE Texas: Dallas
215 PA SE Pennsylvania: Philadelphia
216 OH Cleveland
217 IL Cent. Illinois: Springfield
218 MN N Minnesota: Duluth
219 IN N Indiana: South Bend
242 Bahamas
246 Barbados
250 British Columbia
281 TX Texas: Houston Metro
301 MD W Maryland: Silver Spring, Frederick
302 DE Delaware
303 CO Central Colorado: Denver
304 WV West Virginia
305 FL SE Florida: Miami
306 Saskatchewan
307 WY Wyoming
308 NE W Nebraska: North Platte
309 IL NW Illinois: Peoria
310 CA Los Angeles, California
312 IL Chicago, Illinois
313 MI E Michigan: Detroit
314 MO SE Missouri: St Louis metro area only (see 573)
315 NY N Cent. New York: Syracuse
316 KS S Kansas: Wichita
317 IN Cent. Indiana: Indianapolis
318 LA W Louisiana: Shreveport
319 IA E Iowa: Cedar Rapids
320 MN Cent. Minnesota: Minneapolis (rural Minn, excl St. Paul/Minneapolis)
330 OH NE Ohio: Akron, Canton
334 AL S Alabama: S of Montgomery, incl Mobile and coastal areas
(if you know where the switch for this is, email me)
352 FL Gainesville area
360 WA W Washington State (except Seattle area)
401 RI Rhode Island
402 NE E Nebraska: Omaha
403 Alberta
404 GA N Georgia: Atlanta
405 OK W Oklahoma: Oklahoma City
406 MT Montana
407 FL E Florida: West Palm Beach
408 CA Cent. Coastal California: San Jose
409 TX SE Texas: Galveston
410 MD E Maryland: Baltimore, Annapolis
412 PA W Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh
413 MA W Massachusetts: Springfield
414 WI SE Wisconsin: Milwaukee
415 CA San Francisco, California
416 S Cent. Ontario: Toronto
417 MO SW Missouri: Springfield
418 NE Quebec: Quebec
419 OH NW Ohio: Toledo
423 TN Tennessee
441 Bermuda
501 AR Arkansas
502 KY W Kentucky: Louisville
503 OR Oregon
504 LA E Louisiana: New Orleans
505 NM New Mexico
506 New Brunswick
507 MN S Minnesota: Rochester
508 MA Cent. Massachusetts: Framingham
509 WA E Washington state: Spokane
510 CA California: Oakland, East Bay
512 TX S Texas: Austin, Corpus Christi
513 OH SW Ohio: Dayton
514 SW Quebec: Montreal
515 IA Cent. Iowa: Des Moines
516 NY Long Island, New York: Hempstead
517 MI Cent. Michigan: Lansing
518 NY NE New York: Albany
519 SW Ontario: Windsor
520 AZ Arizona outside the Phoenix area
540 VA Roanoke and nearby area
541 OR Oregon
561 FL Florida (S. Centra)
562 CA California: Los Angeles
573 MO SE Missouri: excluding St Louis metro area
601 MS Mississippi
602 AZ Phoenix Arizona
603 NH New Hampshire
604 British Columbia
605 SD South Dakota
606 KY E Kentucky: Ashland
607 NY S Cent. New York: Ithaca, Binghamton
608 WI SW Wisconsin: Madison
609 NJ S New Jersey: Trenton
610 PA SE Pennsylvania: Allentown, Reading
612 MN Cent. Minnesota: Minneapolis (St. Paul/Minneapolis)
613 SE Ontario: Ottawa
614 OH SE Ohio: Columbus
615 TN E Tennessee: Nashville
616 MI W Michigan: Grand Rapids
617 MA E Massachusetts: Boston
618 IL S Illinois: Centralia
619 CA S California: San Diego
630 IL W NW Illinois (effective 8/3/96)
701 ND North Dakota
702 NV Nevada
703 VA NW Virginia: Arlington
704 NC W North Carolina: Charlotte
705 NW Ontario: Sault Ste. Marie
706 GA N Georgia: Columbus, Augusta
707 CA NW California: Santa Rosa
708 IL Cent. NW Illinois: Oak Brook
709 Newfoundland
712 IA W Iowa: Council Bluffs
713 TX Mid SE Texas: Houston
714 CA S Coastal California: San Diego
715 WI N Wisconsin: Eau Claire
716 NY NW New York: Buffalo, Rochester
717 PA E Pennsylvania: Wilkes-Barre, Scranton
718 NY New York City, New York
719 CO SE Colorado: Pueblo, Colorado Springs
770 GA Atlanta and suburbs
787 PR Puerto Rico
801 UT Utah
802 VT Vermont
803 SC South Carolina
804 VA E Virginia: Richmond
805 CA S Cent. Coastal California: Bakersfield
806 TX Panhandle Texas: Amarillo
807 W Ontario: Thunder Bay
808 HI Hawaii
809 Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Caribbean
810 MI E Michigan: Flint, Pontiac
812 IN S Indiana: Evansville
813 FL SW Florida: St. Petersburg (see 941)
814 PA Cent. Pennsylvania: Erie
815 IL NE Illinois: Rockford
816 MO N Missouri: Kansas City
817 TX N Cent. Texas: Fort Worth
818 CA Los Angeles, California
819 NW Quebec: Trois Rivieres
847 IL Northern NW Illinois: Oak Brook
860 CT Connecticut
864 SC South Carolina
901 TN W Tennessee: Memphis
902 Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island
903 TX NE Texas: Tyler
904 FL N Florida: Jacksonville
905 S Cent. Ontario: Hamilton
906 MI Upper Michigan: Escanaba
907 AK Alaska
908 NJ Cent. New Jersey: New Brunswick
909 CA Inland empire
910 NC Cent. North Carolina: Greensboro
912 GA S Georgia: Savannah
913 KS N Kansas: Topeka
914 NY S New York: White Plains
915 TX W Texas: Sweetwater
916 CA NE California: Sacramento
917 NY New York City, New York
918 OK E Oklahoma: Tulsa
919 NC E North Carolina: Raleigh
941 FL SW Florida: Tampa Area (part of what used to be 813)
954 FL Broward County area, incl Ft. Lauderdale
970 CO N and W Colorado
972 TX Texas: Dallas Metro
__________________________________________________ ________________________
Posting links not allowed

[Telekom]

971 OR Oregon

[Scrumhalf]

Originally Posted by Telekom

971 OR Oregon

Yep.... 971 is an overlay in the Portland metro area from a few years ago when the original 503 area code started running out of numbers. We have to do 10 digit dialing here as a result. My cell phone is a 971 number while my wife's phone and my home phone are all 503s.

[SteveW]

We may have exhausted the OP's question, or just exhausted the OP. This thread was originally about US pricing for prepaid phone minutes and the range of area codes that one could expect/request on a prepaid phone bought in either NY or FL. Despite the thread title, it wasn't intended to be a free for all discussion on area codes we know and love.

KRAMER: It's a whole different world downtown-- different Gap, different Tower Records, and she's a 646.

ELAINE: What? What is that?

JERRY: That's the new area code. They've run out of 212s, so all the new numbers are 646.

ELAINE: I was a 718 when I first moved here. I cried every night.

SW

[xchpstang]

Originally Posted by willsr

The cities named after the colons are where the switches for the area code is located.

201 NJ N New Jersey: Newark
202 DC Washington, D.C.
203 CT Connecticut
204 Manitoba
205 AL Alabama (if you know where the switch for this is, email me)
206 WA W Washington state: Seattle
207 ME Maine
208 ID Idaho
209 CA Cent. California: Fresno
210 TX S Texas: San Antonio
212 NY New York City, New York
213 CA Los Angeles, California
214 TX Mid NE Texas: Dallas
215 PA SE Pennsylvania: Philadelphia
216 OH Cleveland
217 IL Cent. Illinois: Springfield
218 MN N Minnesota: Duluth
219 IN N Indiana: South Bend
242 Bahamas
246 Barbados
250 British Columbia
281 TX Texas: Houston Metro
301 MD W Maryland: Silver Spring, Frederick
302 DE Delaware
303 CO Central Colorado: Denver
304 WV West Virginia
305 FL SE Florida: Miami
306 Saskatchewan
307 WY Wyoming
308 NE W Nebraska: North Platte
309 IL NW Illinois: Peoria
310 CA Los Angeles, California
312 IL Chicago, Illinois
313 MI E Michigan: Detroit
314 MO SE Missouri: St Louis metro area only (see 573)
315 NY N Cent. New York: Syracuse
316 KS S Kansas: Wichita
317 IN Cent. Indiana: Indianapolis
318 LA W Louisiana: Shreveport
319 IA E Iowa: Cedar Rapids
320 MN Cent. Minnesota: Minneapolis (rural Minn, excl St. Paul/Minneapolis)
330 OH NE Ohio: Akron, Canton
334 AL S Alabama: S of Montgomery, incl Mobile and coastal areas
(if you know where the switch for this is, email me)
352 FL Gainesville area
360 WA W Washington State (except Seattle area)
401 RI Rhode Island
402 NE E Nebraska: Omaha
403 Alberta
404 GA N Georgia: Atlanta
405 OK W Oklahoma: Oklahoma City
406 MT Montana
407 FL E Florida: West Palm Beach
408 CA Cent. Coastal California: San Jose
409 TX SE Texas: Galveston
410 MD E Maryland: Baltimore, Annapolis
412 PA W Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh
413 MA W Massachusetts: Springfield
414 WI SE Wisconsin: Milwaukee
415 CA San Francisco, California
416 S Cent. Ontario: Toronto
417 MO SW Missouri: Springfield
418 NE Quebec: Quebec
419 OH NW Ohio: Toledo
423 TN Tennessee
441 Bermuda
501 AR Arkansas
502 KY W Kentucky: Louisville
503 OR Oregon
504 LA E Louisiana: New Orleans
505 NM New Mexico
506 New Brunswick
507 MN S Minnesota: Rochester
508 MA Cent. Massachusetts: Framingham
509 WA E Washington state: Spokane
510 CA California: Oakland, East Bay
512 TX S Texas: Austin, Corpus Christi
513 OH SW Ohio: Dayton
514 SW Quebec: Montreal
515 IA Cent. Iowa: Des Moines
516 NY Long Island, New York: Hempstead
517 MI Cent. Michigan: Lansing
518 NY NE New York: Albany
519 SW Ontario: Windsor
520 AZ Arizona outside the Phoenix area
540 VA Roanoke and nearby area
541 OR Oregon
561 FL Florida (S. Centra)
562 CA California: Los Angeles
573 MO SE Missouri: excluding St Louis metro area
601 MS Mississippi
602 AZ Phoenix Arizona
603 NH New Hampshire
604 British Columbia
605 SD South Dakota
606 KY E Kentucky: Ashland
607 NY S Cent. New York: Ithaca, Binghamton
608 WI SW Wisconsin: Madison
609 NJ S New Jersey: Trenton
610 PA SE Pennsylvania: Allentown, Reading
612 MN Cent. Minnesota: Minneapolis (St. Paul/Minneapolis)
613 SE Ontario: Ottawa
614 OH SE Ohio: Columbus
615 TN E Tennessee: Nashville
616 MI W Michigan: Grand Rapids
617 MA E Massachusetts: Boston
618 IL S Illinois: Centralia
619 CA S California: San Diego
630 IL W NW Illinois (effective 8/3/96)
701 ND North Dakota
702 NV Nevada
703 VA NW Virginia: Arlington
704 NC W North Carolina: Charlotte
705 NW Ontario: Sault Ste. Marie
706 GA N Georgia: Columbus, Augusta
707 CA NW California: Santa Rosa
708 IL Cent. NW Illinois: Oak Brook
709 Newfoundland
712 IA W Iowa: Council Bluffs
713 TX Mid SE Texas: Houston
714 CA S Coastal California: San Diego
715 WI N Wisconsin: Eau Claire
716 NY NW New York: Buffalo, Rochester
717 PA E Pennsylvania: Wilkes-Barre, Scranton
718 NY New York City, New York
719 CO SE Colorado: Pueblo, Colorado Springs
770 GA Atlanta and suburbs
787 PR Puerto Rico
801 UT Utah
802 VT Vermont
803 SC South Carolina
804 VA E Virginia: Richmond
805 CA S Cent. Coastal California: Bakersfield
806 TX Panhandle Texas: Amarillo
807 W Ontario: Thunder Bay
808 HI Hawaii
809 Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Caribbean
810 MI E Michigan: Flint, Pontiac
812 IN S Indiana: Evansville
813 FL SW Florida: St. Petersburg (see 941)
814 PA Cent. Pennsylvania: Erie
815 IL NE Illinois: Rockford
816 MO N Missouri: Kansas City
817 TX N Cent. Texas: Fort Worth
818 CA Los Angeles, California
819 NW Quebec: Trois Rivieres
847 IL Northern NW Illinois: Oak Brook
860 CT Connecticut
864 SC South Carolina
901 TN W Tennessee: Memphis
902 Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island
903 TX NE Texas: Tyler
904 FL N Florida: Jacksonville
905 S Cent. Ontario: Hamilton
906 MI Upper Michigan: Escanaba
907 AK Alaska
908 NJ Cent. New Jersey: New Brunswick
909 CA Inland empire
910 NC Cent. North Carolina: Greensboro
912 GA S Georgia: Savannah
913 KS N Kansas: Topeka
914 NY S New York: White Plains
915 TX W Texas: Sweetwater
916 CA NE California: Sacramento
917 NY New York City, New York
918 OK E Oklahoma: Tulsa
919 NC E North Carolina: Raleigh
941 FL SW Florida: Tampa Area (part of what used to be 813)
954 FL Broward County area, incl Ft. Lauderdale
970 CO N and W Colorado
972 TX Texas: Dallas Metro
__________________________________________________ ________________________
Posting links not allowed

This list is very outdated.

[Kalimotxo]

Originally Posted by xchpstang

This list is very outdated.

Area Code Listing, by Number

that's up to date and includes information about area code splits.