Area code 516 is a

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

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 ...

of 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) in the

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New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The numbering plan area (NPA) comprises the Nassau County portion of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

History

When the North American Numbering Plan was established by

AT&T 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 tel ...

in October 1947, Nassau and

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

counties, the lower Hudson Valley, and some areas adjacent were assigned

area code 914 Area code 914 is the telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for Westchester County, New York. Area code 914 was one of the first area codes announced when the North American Numbering Plan was created in October 1947, whe ...

. At the time, this area was largely coextensive with the New York state portion of the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

. In 1951, Nassau and Suffolk were designated as a separate numbering plan area with area code 516. Despite Long Island's growth in both population and telephone service during the second half of the 20th century, this configuration remained for five decades. By the late 1990s, the proliferation of pagers and cell phones required further division to provide more telephone numbers for Long Island. On November 1, 1999, Suffolk was separated as a new numbering plan area with

area code 631 Area codes 631 and 934 are the telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for Suffolk County, New York on Long Island. Area code 631 was created in 1999 in a split from 516; and 934 was added as an overlay in 2016. Commu ...

, while Nassau retained 516.

Permissive dialing In North America, permissive dialing is the ability to make phone calls in an area subject to a newly introduced area code by using both the new and preexisting dialing methods. When an area is given a new area code under a split plan, the area's ...

of 516 across Long Island continued until spring 2000. Prior to October 2021, area code 516 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 Suicide prevention is a collection of efforts to reduce the risk of suicide. Suicide is often preven ...

, 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.

Exhaust projection

A 2021 NANP analysis of numbering resources projects exhaustion of NPA 516 during the second quarter of 2023. As a result, shortly after 10-digit dialing is implemented, additional relief is expected. An overlay of 516 has been recommended with a new area code, although a boundary-extension overlay has also been considered which would expand area code 934 (overlaying 631) to also overlay 516. In January 2022, it was announced that a new area code, 363, would overlay 516 beginning on January 20, 2023.

References

External links

List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 516 Area Code

Interactive Map of Area Code 516
516 516 Nassau County, New York {{NassauCountyNY-geo-stub

History

Exhaust projection

See also

References

External links