Houston Area Codes
David Adner
Houston area code. I've seen 281 and 713 so far. Is 713 the main city
and 281 the surrounding area? Is there a good cutoff that I can see on
a map? Thx
Patrick Lee Humphrey
If you live in the Houston local-calling area, you've got your pick of three
NPAs: 281, 713, and 832. All three cover the same geographic area, though in
practice 713 still remains mostly confined to the old Houston Central Zone and
281 tends to be in the surrounding ring, with 832 scattered over both areas.
--
Patrick "The Chief Instigator" Humphrey (pat...@io.com) Houston, Texas
www.chiefinstigator.us.tt/aeros.php (TCI's 2003-04 Houston Aeros)
Steven M (remove dirt to reply)
wrote:
There is no geographical cutoff any more.
http://www.lincmad.com/areacodemap.html
20 years ago the 713 area code also included what is now 936, 979, and
409. Sometime in the early/mid 1980's the outer ring of that area
became the 409 area code. Later 409 was split into 409, 936, and 979.
In the early 1990's 713 was divided basically into 713 (inside Beltway
8, mostly) and 281 (mostly outside). But that was still not enough
numbers, so they added 832, and removed the geographical restrictions
on all three. 10 digit dialing became mandatory everywhere about that
time.
Most older land telephone numbers still follow the 713/281
geographical split.
There was a Seinfeld episode that showed New Yorkers trying to keep
their 212 area codes and being snobby towards people who couldn't or
didn.t. I'm guessing that there were and might still be some
Houstonians that look down on the 281'ers and the 832'ers. If you see
any billboards or other large signs with 7-digit numbers, they are
probably 713.
s
--
Steve M - uns...@houston.rrdirt.com (remove dirt for reply)
"Enough realities, we want promises!"
-- graffiti seen in Lima, Peru
Patrick Lee Humphrey
>On Sat, 31 Jan 2004 20:36:36 -0500, David Adner <david...@yahoo.com>
>wrote:
>>In preparation of moving, I'm going to have my cell switched to a
>>Houston area code. I've seen 281 and 713 so far. Is 713 the main city
>>and 281 the surrounding area? Is there a good cutoff that I can see on
>>a map? Thx
>There is no geographical cutoff any more.
>http://www.lincmad.com/areacodemap.html
>20 years ago the 713 area code also included what is now 936, 979, and
>409. Sometime in the early/mid 1980's the outer ring of that area
>became the 409 area code. Later 409 was split into 409, 936, and 979.
713 used to occupy all of what is now also 409, 936, and 979 until March 19,
1983 -- that day, it split off from the greater Houston area and became 409,
with 713 shrinking to its current size. (409 spawned 936 and 979 in a
three-way split three years ago.)
>In the early 1990's 713 was divided basically into 713 (inside Beltway
>8, mostly) and 281 (mostly outside). But that was still not enough
>numbers, so they added 832, and removed the geographical restrictions
>on all three. 10 digit dialing became mandatory everywhere about that
>time.
Nope -- in March 1995, 10-digit dialing was enabled in 713 for the expected
start of assigning 281 to new *wireless* customers in March 1996. The problem
was, that October, the PUC reversed their decision and decreed 281 and 713 had
to be geographic -- which meant 60% of wireless numbers that had already had
been assigned to new wireless customers in 281 had to be renumbered, because
their office codes duplicated ones in the new geographic 281. The official
geographic split was made in November 1996, and for up to a year afterward,
there was a hodgepodge of "temporary" landline numbers while the mess was
sorted out. (Example: 713-290 was in the Orchard CO on the northwest side,
but for nearly a year, if you dialed a number starting with 281-290, it would
ring somewhere in the Prescott CO, which serves most of Sharpstown.) In late
1998, the PUC suffered an attack of common sense and undid the geographic
split from 1996, effective mid-January 1999, and added the 832 NPA to the
already existing 281 and 713.
>Most older land telephone numbers still follow the 713/281
>geographical split.
That's correct -- the one that was established by the PUC's decision back in
late 1995.
>There was a Seinfeld episode that showed New Yorkers trying to keep
>their 212 area codes and being snobby towards people who couldn't or
>didn.t. I'm guessing that there were and might still be some
>Houstonians that look down on the 281'ers and the 832'ers. If you see
>any billboards or other large signs with 7-digit numbers, they are
>probably 713.
...which still amazes me, considering 10-digit dialing has been mandatory for
going on a decade by now. I've lived here for almost four decades, and
learned which office codes went where back when all of southeast Texas was 713
-- and I can't always figure out what NPA a sign with a seven-digit phone
number should be bearing. (281-933 is Alief, 713-933 is Houston
Prescott...and they share a long common boundary.)
David Adner
So 281, 713, and 832 are all considered local calling (although with 10
digit dialing)? So I can just request any of those 3 area codes and
I'll be fine for Houston?
Patrick Lee Humphrey
>Patrick Lee Humphrey wrote:
>> David Adner <david...@yahoo.com> writes:
>> >In preparation of moving, I'm going to have my cell switched to a
>> >Houston area code. I've seen 281 and 713 so far. Is 713 the main city
>> >and 281 the surrounding area? Is there a good cutoff that I can see on
>> >a map? Thx
>> If you live in the Houston local-calling area, you've got your pick of
>> three NPAs: 281, 713, and 832. All three cover the same geographic area,
>> though in practice 713 still remains mostly confined to the old Houston
>> Central Zone and 281 tends to be in the surrounding ring, with 832
>> scattered over both areas.
>Had no idea area code history could be so... exhaustive. ;>
>So 281, 713, and 832 are all considered local calling (although with 10
>digit dialing)? So I can just request any of those 3 area codes and
>I'll be fine for Houston?
More or less, though there will be exceptions, depending on your phone
provider. If you have SBC landline and you're in 713, all of 713 will be
local to you, but some 832 office codes may be LD (if they're out in the
fringes), though I've seen none of those occur yet. Some 281 codes WILL be LD
for you -- if you're in the Central Zone, 281-574 (Katy) and 281-557/9
(Dickinson) will be LD, but both of those offices have a number of codes that
are local. If the code belongs to a wireless provider, it'll almost certainly
be local. Overall, in the 281/713/832 area, your odds of dialing a number
within that area that's *not* local to you is pretty small -- something like
15 to 20 codes total out of a possible 2340...
Jim Riley
wrote:
>In preparation of moving, I'm going to have my cell switched to a
713, 281, and 832. 713 was the original. 281 was added in 1995.
Originally the plan was that there would be an overlay where both
numbers could be used throughout the area, and 10-digit dialing would
be required for all numbers. 281 numbers were being assigned to
wireless in anticipation of the new area code which would then be used
for all phones.
The same sort of overlay was scheduled for Dallas, and the two cities
would be the first in the country to use the system and 10-digit
dialing. At that time, phone numbers were doled out to other phone
companies, etc. in 10,000 number blocks corresponding to the first
3-digits (central office code) of 7-digit numbers. They would then
assign these to new customers. With lots of new companies offering
local service, wireless, and other services, the 10,000 number blocks
were being eaten up fast, even when not all numbers in the 10,000
number blocks would be utilized.
The FCC has ruled that wireless can not be assigned a different area
code, since it stigmatizes the numbers. And MCI was opposed to the
overlay because they anticipated that they would be given number
blocks in the new area code, while Southwestern Bell would keep the
traditional numbers.
MCI sued to overturn the Dallas overlay, and the PUC held hearings,
and decided to review the proposed Houston overlay. A Dallas TV
station went on a crusade against the overlay, and politicians and
"consumer advocates" piled on. They argued that children wouldn't be
able to remember a 10-digit number, there would be wasted seconds
dialing 3 extra digits, and "the" telephone company favored the
change.
Those preferring the overlay argued that a geographical split would
mean that a 3rd area code would be needed sooner, and that it would
mean several million phones would have their number changed. In
addition, businesses, etc. would have to maintain 10-digit records of
their customers, and either have to remember to dial 10 numbers when
calling the _other_ area code, or simply dial 10 all the time. People
calling home from work would have to remember to dial the area code.
In the end, the PUC decided to do a geographical split. The boundary
between the two area codes was roughly Beltway 8/Sam Houston Tollroad,
with 713 on the inside, and 281 around the outside. Most of the
numbers outside were switched to 281 - but customers could pay extra
to keep their area code.
During a transistion period, dialing the area code was optional. But
two months after it became mandatory (in 1997), it was announced that
the next area code would be needed by 1999 (two years earlier than
needed). By this time, overlays were more widely in use, and people
were used to dialing 10 digits at least some of the time.
They had a choice between splitting 281 or making it an overlay (and
713 would need adjustment in a few years), or making a 3 ring plan
moving the inner boundary inward, or going to the overlay they had
originally wanted.
This time they they chose to go to the overlay that they had
originally proposed, and added a 3rd area code, 832. Because they had
already implemented the geographical split, phone numbers tend to
distributed with 281 numbers outside the Beltway, 713 inside. 832
numbers are still fairly rare (randomly scanning the phone book, maybe
around 3%). You might want to pick an area code that was consistent
with the neighborhood that you lived in.
--
Jim Riley