Area Code 984
In the year 1940, Bell Laboratories and AT&T laid the foundation of an area code system. In spite of being established in the year 1940, yet it came into effect seven years later in the year 1947. This unique area coding system came to be known as the NANP or North American Numbering Plan.
In the year 1947, states as well as provinces that were related to only one area code were assigned three digit numbers as area codes with zero as the middle digit. States as well as provinces that were associated with more than a single area code were assigned three digit numbers as area codes having one as their middle digit. The areas that were densely populated were allotted the lowest numbers as area codes.
According to the North American Numbering Plan Administration, the area code 919 is soon to be overlaid by a new area code i.e. area code 984. However, the date as to when this needs to be introduced is still a mystery. In simple words, it has been proposed that area code 984 is an overlay of the area code 919. This area code has been allocated to North Carolina. It is anticipated that the area code 919 will be exhausted very shortly. The customer education plan as well as the activation dates for the area code 984 will soon be declared. The relief plan of the area code was suggested by a telecommunications industry association. The association took into consideration innumerable substitutes for relief of the calling area grouped under the area code 919 prior to opting for an agreement on the overlay plan. The Utilities Commission of North Carolina approved this overlay relief plan shortly.
In case of an overlay plan, an added area code is included to the similar geographical area that is presently served by the area code 919. The existing numbers grouped with area code 919 will retain the same area code whereas phone numbers grouped under local phone service, paging and cellular services and alarms will be allocated the area code 984.
In addition to this, the FCC or Federal Communications Commission wants that the local phone calls made through an overlay area code should make use of ten digit dialing plan. In North Carolina, the local calls made in the area code 919 as well as area code 984 needs to use ten digit dialing plan.
According to Thomas C. Foley, the relief planner for the eastern zone, the need for area code 984 aroused due to the rise in competition in the service market for local phones, the increasing demand among the general mass for added telephone numbers and need for an establishment in the telephone network that presently assigns phone numbers in 10, 000 blocks. In fact, some opine that the area code was scheduled to be introduced in the year 2001 itself, but was put to a halt when the supply of telephone numbers was considered to be enough for the coming years.