Area code 716 is a telephone

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, rea ...

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 callin ...

(NANP) for Buffalo,

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

, and four surrounding counties in

western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY in ...

. It was one of the

original North American area codes The original North American area codes were established by the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1947, following the demonstration of regional Operator Toll Dialing during the World War II period. The program had the goal of speedin ...

established in 1947.

History

When the

American Telephone and Telegraph Company AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...

(AT&T) devised the first nationwide

telephone numbering plan A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone number A telephone number is a sequence of digits assigned to a landline telephone subscriber station connected to a telephone line or ...

in the 1940s, New York state was initially divided into five numbering plan areas (NPAs), the most of any state. Each area received a distinct area code. Area code 716, one of these original area codes of October 1947, was assigned to a significant portion of

central New York Central New York is the central region of New York State, including the following counties and cities: With a population of about 773,606 (2009) and an area of , the region includes the Syracuse metropolitan area. Definitions The New York ...

, as far east as Corning. In 1954, the numbering plan area was reduced in size by merging its eastern portion with the southern portion of NPA 315, to create area code 607. In 2001, the new

area code 585 Area code 585 is the area code for Rochester and eight surrounding counties in Western New York. It was created on November 15, 2001 in a split from area code 716. Previously, Rochester had shared 716 with Buffalo. Aside from new area codes cre ...

was created for Rochester and its suburbs. Until 1993, it was bounded at the

Niagara River The Niagara River () is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York (state), New York in the United States (on the east) ...

area code 416 Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while ''surface area'' refers to the area of an open s ...

(now 905) in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. Prior to October 2021, area code 716 had telephone numbers assigned for the

central office code 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 ...

988. In 2020, ''988'' was designated nationwide as a dialing code for the

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) is a United States-based suicide prevention network of over 200+ crisis centers that provides 24/7 service via a toll-free hotline with the number 9- ...

, which created a conflict for exchanges that permit

seven-digit dialing Seven-digit dialing is a telephone dialing procedure customary in some territories of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for dialing telephone numbers in the same numbering plan area (NPA). NANP telephone numbers consist of ten digits, of wh ...

. This area code was therefore scheduled to transition to

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 ...

by October 24, 2021. A 2022 analysis by the NANP Administrator determined that area code 716 will exhaust its central office prefixes in 2024. As a result, area code 624 is expected to be added to the 716 area before exhaustion; the exact date has not yet been announced.

Service area

The numbering plan area comprises the following counties: * Erie County (includes city of Buffalo and surrounding suburbs) * Cattaraugus County (includes city of Olean) * Chautauqua County (includes cities of Jamestown and

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Niagara County Niagara County is in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 212,666. The county seat is Lockport. The county name is from the Iroquois word ''Onguiaahra''; meaning ''the strait'' or ''thunder of waters''. Niag ...

(includes

and Lockport) Because of Olean's proximity to the 716/585 line, some Olean exchanges use

, particularly those in use for

Sprint Corporation Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before it Merger of Sprint Corporation and T-Mobile US, merged with T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 54.3 ...

cell phones.

References

External links

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716 __NOTOC__ Year 716 ( DCCXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 716 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar er ...

Buffalo, New York Telecommunications-related introductions in 1947

History

Service area

See also

References

External links