Area code 901 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

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, and most of its inner-ring suburbs. it is the smallest numbering plan area in the state.

History

Area code 901 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 ...

created in 1947 for 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 ...

. It served the entire state of Tennessee until 1954, when the state was divided in a

flash cut A flash cut, also called a flash cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period. In the United States, some telephone area codes were split or overlaid immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive dia ...

into two numbering plan areas.

West Tennessee West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions (Tennessee), Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that roughly comprises the western quarter of the state. The region includes 21 counties between the Tennessee River, Tennessee and Miss ...

retained the area code, while the eastern two-thirds of the state, essentially, the part of the state east of the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

, received

area code 615 Area codes 615 and 629 are area codes in Tennessee serving Nashville ( Davidson County) and the 12 surrounding counties. 615 is the main area code, while 629 is an overlay covering the same area that began service in 2014. Murfreesboro, Frankli ...

Despite the presence of Memphis, the state's largest city at the time,

is not as densely populated as the state's other two Grand Divisions. As a result, while the eastern two-thirds of the state went from one area code to four from 1995 to 1999, 901 remained the sole area code for West Tennessee for 47 years. However, by the turn of the millennium, 901 was close to exhaustion due to the Memphis area's rapid growth, as well as the proliferation of cell phones and pagers. On September 17, 2001,

area code 731 Area code 731 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the western part of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The numbering plan area (NPA) includes the cities of Jackson, Tiptonville, Savannah, Union City, Dyersburg, L ...

was assigned to most of West Tennessee outside the immediate Memphis area. Area code 901 remained in service for Fayette, Shelby and

Tipton Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham. Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...

counties, an area largely coextensive with the inner ring of the Memphis area. Despite the Memphis area's growth and the continued demand for telecommunication services, 901 is not in danger of exhaustion. It is one of the few urban area codes that has not been overlaid, making Memphis one of the largest cities where seven-digit dialing is still possible. According to 2021 projections, it will likely stay that way until about 2035.

Service area

Major cities in these counties are the following.

Fayette County

Somerville Somerville may refer to: *Somerville College, Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford Places *Somerville, Victoria, Australia * Somerville, Western Australia, a suburb of Kalgoorlie, Australia * Somerville, New Zealand, a subur ...

Shelby County

* Arlington * Bartlett * Collierville * Cordova *

Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to: Places Australia * Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region United States * Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County * Ge ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

* Millington

Tipton County

* Covington

References

External links

AreaCode-Info.com
{{coord missing, Tennessee 901 901 Telecommunications-related introductions in 1947 1947 establishments in Tennessee