Area codes 876 and 658

{{Short description|Telephone numbers in Jamaica}} {{Location map |Jamaica |label = Jamaica |position = |lat = 18.1691 |long = -77.3698 |width = 200 |float = right |caption = {{Center|NANP numbering plan area 876/658}} }}

'''Area codes 876 and 658''' are telephone [[area code]]s in the [[North American Numbering Plan]] (NANP) for [[Jamaica]].

Having telephone service to the United States as early as 1936, it was not until 1962 that Jamaica had a high-capacity link for dial service to the US network, which was operated as part of the NANP numbering plan area [[area code 809|809]]. 809 was designated for parts of the [[Caribbean]] region in 1958, and was divided in the 1990s for service to individual countries. Area code 876 was created on 1 May 1997 for Jamaica.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |last1=Deak |first1=J. N. |title=PL-NANP-014: NANP - Introduction of New 876 (Jamaica) Numbering Plan Area (NPA) |url=https://nationalnanpa.com/pdf_previous/08_02_99/pl_nanp_014.pdf |website=NANPA: North American Numbering Plan Administrator |publisher=NANPA |access-date=2023-05-18 |format=scanned image as PDF |date=1996-10-09}}</ref> In 2019, the numbering plan area received a second area code, 658, in formation of an [[overlay plan|overlay]] to relieve central office code exhaustion.

The telephone country code for reaching telephone numbers in the country is ''1''. From other NANP member regions, the dialing pattern is ''1-876/658 NXX-XXXX'', where ''1'' is the NANP long-distance trunk prefix.

==History== In 1936, AT&T installed the first telephone service extensions to Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and El Salvador in the Caribbean.<ref name="att1974">AT&T (1974), ''Events in Telephone History'', AT&T Public Relations Department (New York)</ref>

In 1958, Bermuda and the [[Caribbean]] Islands were designated as a large numbering plan area (NPA) with [[area code 809]] as part of a comprehensive North American [[telephone numbering plan]] first defined in 1947 by the [[American Telephone and Telegraph Company]] in cooperation with the independent telephone operators in the United States and Canada.

It was not until 1962 that a high-capacity undersea telephone cable was installed between Jamaica and the United States for dial service.<ref name="att1974"/> For over three decades, Jamaica participated in the North American numbering system with a set of three-digit central office codes that had the digit ''9'' in the leading position, that were routed with area code 809.

In 1996, the Jamaican government requested and were granted by Bellcore, the NANP administration, the assignment of a new and separate area code for the country. Area code 876 was created on 1 May 1997, by a split of NPA 809.<ref name="auto"/> In the process area code 809 was removed from the country and existing central office codes were reassigned with the new area code. A [[permissive dialing]] period during which central office codes could be reached with either area code began on 1 May 1997 and ended 31 July 1998,<ref>{{cite web |title=PL-525: NPA 658 to Overlay NPA 876 (Jamaica) – Permissive Dialing Date Change [supersedes PL-510] |url=https://nationalnanpa.com/pdf/PL_525.pdf |website=NANPA: North American Numbering Plan Administrator |publisher=NANPA |access-date=2023-05-18 |date=2018-11-19}}</ref> after being extended from 1 November 1997.

On 15 September 2016, the Office of Utilities Regulation approved an [[overlay plan|area code overlay]] in relief of central office code exhaustion in the country. Area code 658 was scheduled for service on 30 November 2018. This was subsequently postponed until 30 April 2019. Ten-digit dialing was permissive from 31 May, becoming mandatory on 30 March 2019,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalnanpa.com/pdf/PL_510.pdf |title= NPA 658 to Overlay NPA 876 (Jamaica)|date=August 25, 2017|website=nationalnanpa.com|access-date=28 August 2023}}</ref> The first numbers in area code 658 were not assigned until May 2023.<ref>{{cite news |title=OUR assigns Central Office Code under 658 Area Code |url=https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latest-news/our-assigns-central-office-code-under-658-area-code/ |publisher=Jamaica Observer |date=2023-05-17}}</ref>

The country has been served by two mobile operators – [[Cable & Wireless Communications|Cable & Wireless]]/[[Liberty Global]] (marketed as [[FLOW Jamaica]]) and [[Digicel]]. The country's main [[landline]] provider is [[Flow (brand)|FLOW]], as well as other smaller landline players like [[Digicel]].

==Fraud== The 876 area code was linked to a form of [[telephone fraud]] known as the "one ring scam". The person perpetuating the scam called the victim via a [[Auto dialer|robodialer]] or similar means, sometimes at odd hours of the night, then hung up when the phone was answered with the hope that they would be curious enough to call the number back. When the victim did this, substantial international call charges could accrue. Similar scams have been linked to Grenada ([[area code 473]]), Antigua ([[area code 268|268]]), the Dominican Republic ([[area code 809|809, 829, and 849]]), and the British Virgin Islands ([[area code 284|284]]).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://wisconsin.bbb.org/article/BBB-Warns-of-One-Ring-Cell-Phone-Scam-45593 |title=BBB Warns of One Ring Cell Phone Scam |access-date=2014-02-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219220901/http://wisconsin.bbb.org/article/BBB-Warns-of-One-Ring-Cell-Phone-Scam-45593 |archive-date=2014-02-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The telephone fraud in Jamaica is a primary topic of the episode "Jamaican Lottery Scam" of the television series ''[[American Greed]]''.

==See also== * [[List of North American Numbering Plan area codes]] * [[Area codes in the Caribbean]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130320/cleisure/cleisure2.html Quick on lotto scam bill, slow on crime cure - Jamaica Gleaner] * [http://www.nanpa.com North American Numbering Plan Administrator]

{{Area code box| State = Jamaica| This = Area code 876, 658 | N = [[List of country calling codes#Zone 5|Country code]] [[+53]] in [[Cuba]] | S = [[Caribbean Sea]] | E = [[List of country calling codes#Zone 5|Country code]] [[+509]] in [[Haiti]] | W = [[area code 345|345]] |S1=Cayman Islands}}

[[Category:Communications in Jamaica]] [[Category:Area codes in the Caribbean|876]]