Area Code 228
The system of area codes was developed by the researchers at the AT&T and Bell Laboratories. This system is popularly known as the North American Numbering Plan and is also abbreviated as NANP. Under this numbering system, all the states and provinces in the United States of America were provided with three digit area codes. Before the inception of the area codes, all the states and provinces used only one single digit code to carry out telephonic communication. The states and provinces that used a single area code were provided with numbers whose middle digit was 0. The states and provinces that used more than one area code were provided with numbers whose middle digit was 1. This is the reason why none of the local numbers or the area codes begins with 0 or 1. This helps in determining whether the call is a long distance one or a local number. The first and the last digit of the three digit number depend on the population of the region under consideration. Alaska, Hawaii, and the Caribbean regions do not fall under the convention of the North American Numbering Plan. NANP system makes sure that all the telephone numbers start with the 3 digit area code and then a 7 digit local number.
The system of area codes was established in the year 1947 and there are a total of 86 codes that were released in the first phase. The area codes that were initially released had to undergo a number of splits in order to include new are codes. New area codes that resulted out of the splits served the growing telephonic traffic. The increase in the traffic was the result of the population growth in the developed areas. At present there are a total of 300 area codes that serve the various states of the United States of America. The second developmental phase for the area codes began in the year 1995. the numbers that fall in the range of 0 to 9 are used to develop the area codes.
The area code 228 was formed in the year 1997 and it is the second area code among the Mississippi region. This area code serves the region of Mississippi Gulf Coast and it was created after splitting the area code 601. A total of 7 counties and 22 cities that has about 236 exchanges, fall under the area code 228. The counties that are served by this code are George, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Mobile, Pearl River and Stone. The names of some of the cities that are served by the area code 228 are Bay Saint Louis, Biloxi, Diamondhead, Diberville, Gautier, Gulfport, Hurley, Kiln, Long Beach, Lucedale, Moss Point, Ocean Springs, Pascagoula, Pass Christian, Pearlington, Perkinston, Picayune, Saucier, Stennis Space Center, Vancleave, Waveland and Wilmer.
Some of the telephone service providers under the area code 228 are as follows:
Eliska Wireless Ventures Subsidiary
Gulf Coast Wireless Limited Partner
Alltel Communications
Metrocall
Cellular South
Bellsouth Telecomm Inc
Centurytel Wireless Ms
Arch Wireless Holdings
Data Paging
New Cingular Wireless Pcs
Sprint Spectrum
Communitronics
Mississippi Power Company
Blue Licenses Holding
Southern Communications Services