{{short description|NANP telephone area codes for the U.S. state of Colorado}} {{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Colorado area codes image map}}
'''Area codes 970 and 748''' are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the western and northern parts of the U.S. state of Colorado. The numbering plan area includes Aspen, Breckenridge, Durango, Estes Park, Fort Collins, Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction, Greeley, Loveland, Montrose, Silverthorne, Steamboat Springs, and Vail.
==History== Area code 970 was established on April 2, 1995, in an area code split of area code 303, which was retained by the Denver metropolitan area.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nanpa.com/sites/default/files/planning_letters/IL-94-09-012.pdf |title=Information Letter 94/09-012: NANP Split of 303 (Colorado) Numbering Plan Area |publisher=NANPA |date=1994-09-21 |access-date=2025-05-06 }}</ref>
On October 17, 2020, a federal law was enacted in the United States that established the short dialing code ''988'' for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. In compliance, the Federal Communications Commission ordered telecommunication carriers of 83 area codes, including 970, to transition to ten-digit dialing, even when the area code was not involved in an overlay complex, Area code 970 has PCS telephone numbers assigned for the central office code 988 in the Fort Collins exchange.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telcodata.us/search-area-code-exchange-detail?npa=970&exchange=988|title=Assignment of 988 prefix in Fort Collins|access-date=2021-04-05}}</ref> Per the timeline set by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, permissive dialing began on April 24, 2021, and ten-digit dialing has been required from October 24, 2021.<ref>{{cite web |title=Transition to 10-digit dialing (for 988 as 3-digit access to National Suicide Prevention Hotline) |url=https://www.nanpa.com/sites/default/files/planning_letters/PL-556.pdf |publisher=NANPA |date=2021-01-08 |access-date=2025-05-06 }}</ref>
In 2023, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator estimated that area code 970 would reach numbering exhaustion by 2026. On December 18, 2023, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission approved the addition of '''area code 748''' for the all-services distributed overlay of NPA 970.<ref name=area_code_748>{{cite news|url=https://www.cpr.org/2023/12/18/new-area-code-for-northern-and-western-colorado-2026/|title=A new area code is coming to northern and western Colorado in 2026|publisher=Colorado Public Radio|first=Paolo|last=Zialcita|date=2023-12-18|access-date=2025-05-06}}</ref> The overlay complex was activated on July 7, 2025.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nanpa.com/sites/default/files/planning_letters/PL-625.pdf |title=Planning Letter 625: NPA 748 and 970 All-Services Overlay (Colorado) |publisher=NANPA |date=2024-02-13 |access-date=2025-05-06 }}</ref> No central office codes for area code 748 may be installed prior to the complete exhaustion of area code 970.
==See also== {{portal|Telecommunications|Colorado}} *List of Colorado area codes *List of North American Numbering Plan area codes {{clear}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{NANPA area code map|Map=CO}}
{{Area code box | State = CO | This = 748/970 | N = 307, 308 | S = 303/720/983, 505, 575, 719 | E = 303/720/983, 719, 785 | W = 435 | SW = 435 | S1 = KS | S2 = NE | S3=NM | S4 = UT | S5 = WY }}
{{Coord|39|N|106|W|format=dms|display=title|type:adm1st_scale:4000000_region:US-CO}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Area Code 970}} 970 970 Category:Telecommunications-related introductions in 1995