Area Code Atlas

NPA 540 split from 703

Area code 540 was created on June 19, 1995, when most of the western portion of the old 703 area code was split off. After this split, 703 was restricted to Northern Virginia.

NPA 540 split from 703

Area code 540 was established on July 15, 1995, when area code 703 was divided. The new code served the outer portions of Northern Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley, Blue Ridge Mountains, New River Valley, and the Roanoke metropolitan area, while 703 continued to serve the inner suburbs of Washington, D.C.

NPA 540 split from 703 in Virginia

Area code 540 was installed in 1996 as a split from 703, serving the western portion of the old 703 territory in Virginia. The permissive dialing period ended on January 27, 1996.

Extraordinary NPA - Specific Jeopardy Conservation Procedures Announced for the 540 NPA (Virginia)

540 NPA Split; Creating 276 NPA (Virginia)

Correction 540/276 NPA Split (Virginia)

NPA 276 split from 540

Area code 276 was created by splitting from area code 540 on September 1, 2001. The new code serves the southwestern corner of Virginia, including cities such as Bristol, Galax, Martinsville, and Norton. This region, the farthest western part of Virginia, was assigned to the new code, reducing the territory covered by 540, which continued to serve the remaining central and northern areas, including the New River Valley and the Virginia side of the Tri-Cities.

540/276 NPA Split - Extended Permissive For Additional Wireless Codes (Virginia)

NPA 540 (Virginia) Order of Dismissal

NPA 826 relief planning approved

The Virginia State Corporation Commission approved a plan in June 2020 to add area code 826 as an all-services overlay for the 540 region. This decision was made in response to the projected exhaustion of central office codes in area code 540.

Overlay planned for area code 540 with new code 826

The Virginia State Corporation Commission approved a plan in June 2020 to add area code 826 as an all-services overlay to area code 540 to address projected central office code exhaustion in 2022.

NPA 540 and 826 All-Services Overlay (Virginia)

NPA 826 overlays 540

Area code 826 was implemented as an overlay for the 540 region on May 14, 2022. The overlay required ten-digit dialing for all calls within the region and provided additional numbering resources for the area.

Mandatory ten-digit dialing implemented for 540/826 overlay

Ten-digit dialing became mandatory in the area served by the 540/826 overlay on May 14, 2022.