Maine Is On Track To Max Out Area Code By 2019

Maine has just one area code, 207, it's been that way since anyone can remember. That could be changing soon.

Projections show that by the first quarter of 2019 there will be too many numbers for one area code.

John Manning, a senior director at Neustar, where he oversees the North American Numbering Plan Administration, said 207 isn't hitting its cap in the immediate future, but it's not too early to start planning for that eventuality.

The trend of multiplication of devices with phone numbers is causing the rate of new numbers and bringing us closer to area code exhaustion.

With 102 Maine prefixes unassigned as of this week, that works out to about 1.02 million possible numbers still available in the 207 area code, compared to about 6.71 million that are already assigned.

The solution will involve one major decision: whether to split the state into two area codes or overlay the new area code throughout the entire state. After that, new central office codes would get assigned from that area code and mandatory 10-digit dialing could be soon after.