Area code 618

Area code 618 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for southern Illinois. The numbering plan area (NPA) comprises one hundred and twenty-six municipalities, such as Carbondale, Cairo, Belleville, East St. Louis, Edwardsville, Marion, O'Fallon, Alton, Mt. Vernon, Centralia, Herrin, Salem, Metropolis, Fairview Heights, Collinsville, and Granite City. Area code 618 was one of the original North American area codes created in 1947.

For the area code in Durango, see Area code 618 (Mexico).
All NPAs within Illinois

History

When the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) organized the nation's telephone networks in 1947 under a new nationwide telephone numbering plan, Illinois was divided into four numbering plan areas to accommodate large number of central offices that were necessary for the state's dense population and toll call routing infrastructure.[1]

Area code 618 was assigned to a numbering plan area in southern Illinois, including the population centers of East St. Louis and Carbondale.

In 1954, most of Metro East of St. Louis switched from area code 217 to 618.

618 is the only one of Illinois' four original area codes that have not been split or overlaid. According to projections in 2021, 618 is expected to "exhaust" by 2025.[2] Periodic proposals have been made for code relief for area code 618. Area code 730 is designated for overlay, which is expected to go in effect on July 7, 2023.

Prior to October 2021, area code 618 had telephone numbers assigned for the central office code 988. In 2020, 988 was designated nationwide as a dialing code for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which created a conflict for exchanges that permit seven-digit dialing. This area code was therefore scheduled to transition to ten-digit dialing by October 24, 2021.[3]

Cities in the service area

See also
Illinois area codes: 217, 224/847, 309, 312, 331/630, 618, 708, 773, 779/815, 872
North: 217
West: 314/557, 636, 573 Area code 618 East: 812
South: 573, 270
Missouri area codes: 314/557, 417, 573, 636, 660, 816
Kentucky area codes: 270/364, 502, 606, 859
Indiana area codes: 219, 260, 317/463, 574, 765, 812/930

References
  1. AT&T (1955), Notes on Nationwide Dialing
  2. "2021-2 NRUF and NPA Exhaust Analysis" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-10-18. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  3. "Transition to 10-digit dialing (for 988 as 3-digit access to National Suicide Prevention Hotline)" (PDF). North American Numbering Plan Administrator. 2021-01-08. Retrieved 2021-03-09.

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