Area Code 803
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/NANP803%28SC%291952.jpg/110px-NANP803%28SC%291952.jpg)
Area code 803 is one of the original 86 area codes assigned in 1947, when it was assigned to serve the entire state. In 1995, the Upstate was split off into a separate numbering plan area with area code 864. Until then, South Carolina had been one of the most populated states with just one area code.
While this was intended as a long-term solution, the rapid growth of telecommunication service in Columbia, the Charlotte suburbs, and the coastal region brought 803 back to the brink of exhaustion within two years. As a result, in 1998 the coastal region was assigned area code 843.
In May 2020, area code 839 was added as an overlay for the 803 plan area. The new area code is used for new subscribers. This implementation made ten-digit dialing mandatory in the numbering plan area as of April 2020. Previously, a permissive ten-digit dialing period began in late October 2019.
Service area
Major cities
Counties
References
- ^ 803 area code
- ^ Tony Santanella (2018-08-10). "Columbia to Get New Telephone Area Code: 839". WLTX.
External links
North: 704/980 | ||
West: 864/821, 706/762, 478 | area code 803 | East: 843/854 |
South: 478, 912, 843/854 | ||
North Carolina area codes: 252, 336/743, 704/980, 828, 910/472, 919/984 | ||
Georgia area codes: 229, 404, 478, 678/470/943, 706/762, 770, 912 |