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Thursday, January 19, 2012

New area code, 667, set for Shore in March

Just a mere 20 years ago Maryland had only one telephone area code. By early next year it will have five of them.

That's because a new area code 667 is being added to all or part of the nine Eastern Shore counties, along with all or part of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties and Baltimore City on the western shore.

The Maryland Public Service Commission, in a recent statement, said that the new area code is needed "because the remaining numbers in the 410 and 443 area codes are expected to be exhausted by early 2012."

Regina Davis, a PSC spokesperson, said that there are less than 20,000 of the 410 and 443 numbers still remaining available and they are going quickly.

The official start-up date of the 667 area code will be March 24, 2012. Depending on how many 410 and 443 numbers still remain available then, Davis explained, telephone users seeking new numbers will either receive those area codes or 667. Once all the 410 and 443 numbers are gone, all new numbers will be 667.

"Callers will continue to dial the area code before the number, and existing 410 and 443 telephone numbers will not be affected by the new area code," the PSC statement said.


Davis said the new area code should provide about 7.8 million new phone numbers and should be sufficient for the foreseeable future without the need to add another area code.

The PSC says it will provide updates on the implementation of the new area code as information becomes available at www.psc.state.md. us.

For 44 years from 1947 to 1991 the 301 area code was the only one in Maryland, according to online Public Records Guide (www.public recordsguide.com). It was one of the original area codes established nationwide following World War II. On Oct. 6, 1991, Maryland's second area code, 410, was introduced.

to provide more telephone numbers for a growing state. On June 1, 1997 the 240 area code was established and on July 1, 1997 the 443 area code was established.

The various area codes overlap in several jurisdictions around the state.

According to the Public Records Guide, area code 410 covers 19 counties and Baltimore City and has a population of 3,039,848, mostly in Central Maryland and on the Eastern Shore. Area code 443 covers 18 counties with a population of 1,592,514, also mostly on the Shore and in Central Maryland.

Area code 301, the original one, covers 17 counties, mostly in central and Western Maryland, with a population of 2,587,425, the guide states. The 240 area code covers 12 counties, also mostly in Western Maryland and around Washington, D.C., with a population of 1,075,439, according to the guide.

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