Area codes 508 and 774 are 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 ...

s 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 the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. The numbering plan area comprises south-central and most of southeastern Massachusetts ( LATA code 128). It includes

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

, Outer south and southwest

Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern a ...

(such as the MetroWest region), as well as

Fall River Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...

New Bedford New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American pe ...

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...

, and Nantucket.

History

Massachusetts was originally divided into two numbering plan areas, when AT&T initiated the development of the North American Numbering Plan in 1947.

Area code 617 Area codes 617 and 857 are the North American area codes serving Boston and several surrounding communities in Massachusetts—such as Brookline, Cambridge, Newton and Quincy ( LATA code 128). The main area code, 617, was one of the orig ...

was assigned to the eastern two-thirds of Massachusetts from roughly the western end of Worcester County to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

The Cape and Islands Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

, and the

South Coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

, while the western part received

area code 413 Area code 413 ( LATA code 126) is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the western third of Massachusetts. It is the largest numbering plan area in the Commonwealth, and extends from the New York state line eastw ...

. Area code 508 was created on July 16, 1988, in a

split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

from 617, with a semicircle around Boston retaining 617 and the northern, western, and southern parts of the area becoming 508. Permissive dialing of 617 and 508 continued until January 1, 1989. On September 1, 1997, numbering plan area 508 was split, whereby

area code 978 Area code 978 was created as a split from area code 508 on September 1, 1997, and covers north central and most of northeastern Massachusetts ( LATA code 128). Use of 978 became mandatory on February 1, 1998. Prior to when this area was served b ...

was assigned to the northern part of the service area. Area code 774 was added to the 508 numbering plan area on May 2, 2001, forming an overlay complex and making

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 ...

mandatory for all local calls. Some mobile telephone numbers assigned in the 1990s in communities in the former northern half of 508 (now the 978 area code) kept the area code after it split. As of 2018, NPA 508/774 is projected to be exhausted by 2045.2018 October NANPA Exhaust Projections
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Service area

The numbering plan area of area codes 508 and 774 includes the southern parts of the regions of Worcester County and MetroWest, as well as

, Nantucket, and the

. The major towns and cities are Attleboro, Barnstable, Bridgewater, Brockton, Dartmouth,

Framingham Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popul ...

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

, and

References

External links

Massachusetts Area Code Map
Mass. Department of Telecommunications and Cable

508 508 {{areacode-stub

History

Service area

See also

References

External links