Area codes 678, 470, and 943

{{Short description|Telephone area codes for the Atlanta metropolitan area}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}}

[[File:Georgia Area Codes 2021.png|thumb|370px|The telephone area codes of Georgia]]

'''Area codes 678, 470, and 943''' are telephone [[NPA code|area codes]] in the [[North American Numbering Plan]] (NANP) for the [[U.S. State]] of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] in the [[Atlanta metropolitan area]]. The area codes are assigned in an [[overlay plan]] to a combined numbering plan area (NPA) consisting of [[area code 404|404]] (Atlanta and its suburbs inside [[Interstate 285 (Georgia)|Interstate 285]]) and [[area code 770|770]] (Atlanta [[suburb]]s and [[exurb]]s outside of I-285).

==History==  [[Telephone number]]s in area code 678 were first assigned to customers signing up for new telephone service on January 15, 1998.

On September 2, 2001, area code 470, was added to the 678 overlay area of area codes 404 and 770.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nanpa.com/sites/default/files/planning_letters/PL-269.pdf |title=Planning Letter 269: NPA 470 To Overlay NPAs 404, 678, and 770 |date=2001-03-28 |publisher=NANPA |access-date=2025-11-30 }}</ref> Telephone numbers for the NPA were assigned after exhaustion of area code 678.

In October of 2020, the Georgia Public Service Commission approved the creation of a new overlay area code after NANPA exhaustion analyses projected shortfall of central office prefixes by the second quarter of 2023.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://psc.ga.gov/site/assets/files/5599/media_advisory_943_area_code_annoucement.pdf|title=Atlanta Metro Area To Get Fifth Area Code|publisher=Georgia Public Service Commission|access-date=2022-01-28}}</ref> NANPA assigned area code 943 for relief, which commenced service on March 15, 2022.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nanpa.com/sites/default/files/planning_letters/PL-559.pdf |title=Planning Letter 559: NPA 943 and 404/470/678/770 All-Services Overlay (Georgia) |date=2021-05-10 |publisher=NANPA |access-date=2025-11-30 }}</ref>

Although [[ten-digit dialing]] was used in the Atlanta area since area code 770 was introduced in 1995, it was not until January 1, 1998, when 678 was implemented, that ten-digit dialing finally became required across the entire metro area.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nanpa.com/sites/default/files/planning_letters/PL-102.pdf |title=Planning Letter 102: NANP-Overlay of 770 and 404 Numbering Plan Areas (NPA) in Georgia |date=1997-11-21 |publisher=NANPA |access-date=2025-11-30 }}</ref>

All central office prefixes of area code 404 are assigned to service providers, the last having been issued in October 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.ajc.com/news/news/no-more-404-678-area-codes-given-in-atlanta/nbqWP/|title=No more 404, 678 area codes given in Atlanta|website=M.ajc.com|access-date=2018-07-11}}</ref> Prefixes in 678 and 770 have also all been allocated, leaving only 470 central office codes available, although previously used numbers are always available for reassignment to new customers. Despite existing for decades before this change, the largest customer using area code 470 is [[Kennesaw State University]] in [[Kennesaw, Georgia|Kennesaw]], which was forced to change hundreds of telephone numbers when the [[Georgia Board of Regents]] forced schools in the [[University System of Georgia]] to implement [[Private branch exchange|internal telephone systems]], and the [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]] failed to make [[local number portability]] applicable to businesses and government,{{citation needed|reason=It's unclear why this would be the case, or how a carrier would differentiate between "business" and residential customers. Is it maybe only certain types of businesses? If so, which ones/classes specifically?|date=August 2017}} allowing [[BellSouth|AT&T]] to refuse KSU to take its numbers to the [[Competitive local exchange carrier|new provider]]. Kennesaw State opted to use 470-578 (KSU) as their number prefix for the new phone numbers, outside of the normal geographical calling area for Kennesaw; 470-578 numbers are based in Atlanta Northeast<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://localcallingguide.com/lca_prefix.php?npa=470&nxx=578&x=&ocn=&region=&lata=&switch=&pastdays=&nextdays=|title=Local calling guide: NPA-NXX search|last=Chow|first=Ray|website=Localcallingguide.com|language=en|access-date=2017-01-20}}</ref> and Kennesaw State is located in the Atlanta Northwest calling area.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://localcallingguide.com/lca_exch.php?exch=032480|title=Local calling guide: Rate centre information|last=Chow|first=Ray|website=Localcallingguide.com|language=en|access-date=2017-01-20}}</ref>

The entire metro Atlanta region with area codes 404, 770, 678, 470, and 943 is a local calling area, one of the largest in the United States. No [[long-distance calling|long-distance]] charges are applied for calls between area codes. All calls in the area are dialed with ten digits. In addition, calls to and from the Atlanta area with [[area codes 706 and 762]], which serve most of north Georgia outside the metro area, are also local calls.

==See also== * [[List of Georgia area codes]] * [[List of North American Numbering Plan area codes]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Area_code_footer|Map=GA}}

{{Area code box|State=GA | This= 678/470/943<br/>(overlaying [[area code 404|404]] and [[area code 770|770]]) | N= [[area codes 706 and 762|706/762]] | S= [[area code 478|478]], [[area codes 706 and 762|706/762]] | E= [[area codes 706 and 762|706/762]] | W= [[area codes 256 and 938|256/938]] |S1=AL }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:678}} [[Category:Area codes in the United States]] [[Category:Area codes in Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:1998 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:2010 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)]]