Press Release

New Area Code Assigned to New York's Lower Hudson Valley and the Catskills Calling Area
845 Will Be New Area Code in Geographic Split Plan

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 9, 1999) - The North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA) announced today that the new 845 area code will be assigned to nine of the ten counties in New York's Lower Hudson Valley and the Catskills, exclusive of Westchester County, as part of the geographic split plan approved recently by the New York Public Service Commission.

Telephone customers in Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Ulster, Sullivan, Delaware, Greene and Columbia counties will receive the new 845 area code, while those customers in Westchester County will retain the 914 area code. The boundaries of the geographic split fall along the county boundary that separates Westchester County from Rockland and Putnam counties. This is the first new area code added in the region since 914 was placed into service in the early 1950's.

The assignment of the new 845 area code for New York comes after the State's Public Service Commission approved a geographic split plan for relief of the 914 area code on November 4.

Cities and communities that will change to 845 include Orangetown, Putnam Valley, East Fishkill, Woodstock, New Paltz, Stony Point, Middletown, and Fallsburg. Yonkers, Mount Kisco, Mamaroneck, Scarsdale, Peekskill and Ossining are among those that will remain in the 914 calling area.

Once the new area code is implemented calls made between Westchester County and those counties in the new 845 area code will require 1+10 digit dialing (1+area code+phone number). However, the introduction of the 845 area code will not affect the price of telephone calls. Local calls will remain local calls regardless of the area code dialed.

To introduce the new 845 area code, a "permissive dialing" period will begin June 5, 2000, and run through Dec. 3, 2000. During the permissive dialing period, calls made from outside the area can use either the 914 or the 845 area code when completing a call to customers in the new 845 area code. Once mandatory dialing begins, Dec. 4, 2000, callers will need to use the correct area code to complete their calls. New phone numbers will be assigned out of the 845 area code beginning Feb. 23, 2001.

Because the 914/845 area code relief plan falls along the Westchester and Putnam county line, several exchanges will be found in both counties. For example, if a phone customer has the 528 exchange and lives in Putnam County, they will switch to the new 845 area code; however, a 528 phone customer in Westchester County will retain the 914 area code. Attached is a preliminary list of exchanges for the new 845 area code, and those remaining in 914. The shared codes are marked with an asterisk (*).

New phone numbers will be assigned in the 845 area code beginning in the first quarter of 2001.

Frank Colaco, NANPA's area code relief planner for the Eastern Region, which includes New York, said the introduction of the new 845 area code is needed due to an increase in competition in the local phone service market, the growing demand by the public for additional telephone numbers, and a technical requirement in the phone network that currently allocates phone numbers in blocks of 10,000.

When switching to or adding a new area code, Colaco said there are several items customers should remember including:

• Changing stationery, business cards and advertising to reflect the correct area code if not already shown
• Reprogramming alarm monitoring devices to accommodate 1+10-digit dialing (contact alarm service providers)
• Updating fax machine group calling lists to include 1+10-digit dialing
• Reprogramming speed dialers, auto dialers, alarms and PBX (private phone systems)
• Reprogramming out-dial lists on personal computers to include 1+10-digit dialing
• Updating or reprogramming private-dial entry access systems for 1+10-digit dialing.

A telecommunications industry group, comprised of various industry segments, collectively develops area code relief plans for New York State. Area code relief activities for the 914 and 845 area codes are administered by NeuStar, Inc., which was selected by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to serve as the NANPA. NANPA is a neutral, third-party administrator that works with the telecommunications industry in developing area code relief plans. NANPA also oversees the assignment of area codes, three-digit central office codes, carrier identification codes, and other numbering resources throughout the United States, Canada, Bermuda and 16 Caribbean countries.

Download the Prefix Tables and Area Code Maps

For media inquiries, please contact Bill Stern, spokesman for the North American Numbering Plan Administration, at 202-533-2648.