Area code 709 and 879

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File:Cabot Tower, St. John's, NL.JPG
Signal Hill, Newfoundland

Area codes 709 and 879 are the telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the entire Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

History

The first telephone system was installed in Newfoundland in 1885, but domestic long-distance calls within the Dominion of Newfoundland could be placed on a limited basis only in 1921. The first long-distance call from Newfoundland to Canada was made on January 10, 1939, by using a shortwave radio link operated by the Canadian Marconi Company in Montréal. Shortwave radio also carried calls from St. John's to London, England.

When planning was completed for the original NANP area codes in 1947, Newfoundland had not yet become of part of the Dominion of Canada. No provisions had been made to include Newfoundland in the continental numbering plan, which later became the North American Numbering Plan. The Newfoundland telephone system was entirely manual, and dial telephones came to St. John's only in 1948.[1]

After Newfoundland's Confederation with the Dominion of Canada was enacted in 1949, the first cross-province long-distance call was placed from St. John's to Port aux Basques in 1949.[1]

Newfoundland was added to area code 902, which already covered the three Maritime provinces, and which remains in use throughout Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. New Brunswick and Newfoundland were split from area code 902 to area code 506 in 1955. In 1962, Labrador was split off and combined with Newfoundland to form a new numbering plan area, with own area code 709.[2] Canadian direct-distance dial locations gradually increased over the next several years, beginning in 1958 with the country's largest cities, Toronto and Montreal. The area codes served mostly for operator routing purposes until customer dialing of long-distance calls became common in the 1960s.

The incumbent local exchange carrier for area code 709 is Bell Aliant, which is owned by Bell Canada, which was formed in 1999 as a result of a merger that included NewTel Communications (previously Newfoundland Telephone). There had been as many as nine companies in Newfoundland and Labrador until 1951. NewTel acquired the last independent company in 1988.

Area code 709 is expected to be exhausted by 2027, when Newfoundland and Labrador will receive an overlay area code, and ten-digit dialling will become necessary in the province. Area code 879 was assigned as the second code for the purpose of that overlay, but the relief has been suspended indefinitely.[3] Area code 709 and three other Canadian area codes, 506, 807, and 867 have not been overlaid, still permitting seven-digit dialling.

The central office prefix 988 is used in the province, for the community of Norman's Bay. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has recommended using a three-digit code, most likely 9-8-8, for suicide prevention, after the United States has implemented the same code for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.[4] Consequently, ten-digit dialling would need to be implemented regardless of the introduction of the overlay.

Service area and central office prefixes

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See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ http://massis.lcs.mit.edu/archives/areacodes/history.area.splits.2-96
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Newfoundland and Labrador area codes: 709
North: Country code +299 in Greenland
West: 418/581, 819, 902/782 Area code 709 East: Atlantic Ocean
South: 418/581, country code +508 in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, Atlantic Ocean
Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island area codes: 902(/782)
Quebec area codes: 418, 438, 450, 514, 579, 581, 819
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