# Area codes 876 and 658 > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Area_codes_876_and_658 > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Area_codes_876_and_658.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_codes_876_and_658 > Source revision: 1297454023 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Telephone numbers in Jamaica Jamaica NANP numbering plan area 876/658 **Area codes 876 and 658** are telephone [area codes](/source/Area_code) in the [North American Numbering Plan](/source/North_American_Numbering_Plan) (NANP) for [Jamaica](/source/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 [809](/source/Area_code_809). 809 was designated for parts of the [Caribbean](/source/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.[1] In 2019, the numbering plan area received a second area code, 658, in formation of an [overlay](/source/Overlay_plan) 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.[2] In 1958, Bermuda and the [Caribbean](/source/Caribbean) Islands were designated as a large numbering plan area (NPA) with [area code 809](/source/Area_code_809) as part of a comprehensive North American [telephone numbering plan](/source/Telephone_numbering_plan) first defined in 1947 by the [American Telephone and Telegraph Company](/source/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.[2] 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.[1] 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](/source/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,[3] after being extended from 1 November 1997. On 15 September 2016, the Office of Utilities Regulation approved an [area code overlay](/source/Overlay_plan) 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,[4] The first numbers in area code 658 were not assigned until May 2023.[5] The country has been served by two mobile operators – [Cable & Wireless](/source/Cable_%26_Wireless_Communications)/[Liberty Global](/source/Liberty_Global) (marketed as [FLOW Jamaica](/source/FLOW_Jamaica)) and [Digicel](/source/Digicel). The country's main [landline](/source/Landline) provider is [FLOW](/source/Flow_(brand)), as well as other smaller landline players like [Digicel](/source/Digicel). ## Fraud The 876 area code was linked to a form of [telephone fraud](/source/Telephone_fraud) known as the "one ring scam". The person perpetuating the scam called the victim via a [robodialer](/source/Auto_dialer) 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](/source/Area_code_473)), Antigua ([268](/source/Area_code_268)), the Dominican Republic ([809, 829, and 849](/source/Area_code_809)), and the British Virgin Islands ([284](/source/Area_code_284)).[6] The telephone fraud in Jamaica is a primary topic of the episode "Jamaican Lottery Scam" of the television series *[American Greed](/source/American_Greed)*. ## See also - [List of North American Numbering Plan area codes](/source/List_of_North_American_Numbering_Plan_area_codes) - [Area codes in the Caribbean](/source/Area_codes_in_the_Caribbean) ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-auto_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-auto_1-1) Deak, J. N. (1996-10-09). ["PL-NANP-014: NANP - Introduction of New 876 (Jamaica) Numbering Plan Area (NPA)"](https://nationalnanpa.com/pdf_previous/08_02_99/pl_nanp_014.pdf) (scanned image as PDF). *NANPA: North American Numbering Plan Administrator*. NANPA. Retrieved 2023-05-18. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-att1974_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-att1974_2-1) AT&T (1974), *Events in Telephone History*, AT&T Public Relations Department (New York) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["PL-525: NPA 658 to Overlay NPA 876 (Jamaica) – Permissive Dialing Date Change \[supersedes PL-510\]"](https://nationalnanpa.com/pdf/PL_525.pdf) (PDF). *NANPA: North American Numbering Plan Administrator*. NANPA. 2018-11-19. Retrieved 2023-05-18. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["NPA 658 to Overlay NPA 876 (Jamaica)"](https://www.nationalnanpa.com/pdf/PL_510.pdf) (PDF). *nationalnanpa.com*. August 25, 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2023. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["OUR assigns Central Office Code under 658 Area Code"](https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latest-news/our-assigns-central-office-code-under-658-area-code/). Jamaica Observer. 2023-05-17. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["BBB Warns of One Ring Cell Phone Scam"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140219220901/http://wisconsin.bbb.org/article/BBB-Warns-of-One-Ring-Cell-Phone-Scam-45593). Archived from [the original](http://wisconsin.bbb.org/article/BBB-Warns-of-One-Ring-Cell-Phone-Scam-45593) on 2014-02-19. Retrieved 2014-02-02. ## External links - [Quick on lotto scam bill, slow on crime cure - Jamaica Gleaner](http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130320/cleisure/cleisure2.html) - [North American Numbering Plan Administrator](http://www.nanpa.com) Jamaica area codes: 876/658 North: Country code +53 in Cuba West: 345 Area code 876, 658 East: Country code +509 in Haiti South: Caribbean Sea Cayman Islands area codes: 345 v t e Lists of area codes in the North American Numbering Plan United States Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah U.S. Government Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming American Samoa Guam Northern Marianas Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands Other Canada Caribbean Former Belize Costa Rica Cuba El Salvador Guatemala Haiti Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama v t e Telephone numbers in North America Sovereign states Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States Dependencies and other territories Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten Turks and Caicos Islands United States Virgin Islands [18°10′09″N 77°22′11″W / 18.1691°N 77.3698°W / 18.1691; -77.3698](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Area_codes_876_and_658¶ms=18.1691_N_77.3698_W_) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Area codes 876 and 658](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_codes_876_and_658) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_codes_876_and_658?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.