Area code 780

Area code 780 is a telephone area code in the province of Alberta, encompassing the northern two-thirds of the province, including the Edmonton area. The code was established in 1999; prior to this date the entire province was served by the 403 area code.

Area codes in Alberta after April 9, 2016

Although Alberta would have likely needed another area code in any event due to its rapid growth in the second half of the 20th century, the 1999 split was hastened by Canada's number allocation system. Every local exchange carrier is allocated blocks of 10,000 numbers, each block corresponding to a single prefix, for every rate centre where they plan to offer service, even for the smallest hamlets. While most rate centres do not need nearly that many numbers, it is not possible to move a number from one rate centre to another. This resulted in thousands of wasted numbers, and the proliferation of cell phones and pagers, especially in Calgary and Edmonton, accelerated the exhaustion of numbers. The same problem forced the split of 780 in 1997, only two years after the territories were split off as area code 867.

The 780 phone code started use on January 25, 1999. Generally, everything north and west of Ponoka switched to 780. Permissive dialing of 403 continued throughout Alberta until May 18, 1999. Area code 780 is also the last new area code in Canada introduced by a split.

This was intended as a long-term solution, but within less than a decade, both 403 and 780 were on the brink of exhaustion, again due to the number allocation problem. To solve the problem, area code 587 was implemented as an overlay for all of Alberta. Optional provincewide 10-digit dialing began on June 23, 2008 and became mandatory on September 12, 2008.[1] The alternative would have been a split that could potentially have resulted in portions of Alberta having to change their numbers for the second time in a decade.

The incumbent local exchange carrier in 780 is Telus.[2] Until its merger with Telus in 1995, over three years prior to the startup of 780, the municipally owned Edmonton Telephones (Ed Tel) served as an ILEC.

Communities included
  • Ardrossan (780)-922
  • Barrhead (780)-282 284 294 305 674
  • Bon Accord (780)-921
  • Bonnyville (780)-201 207 343 545 573 687 812 813 815 826
  • Camrose (780)-226 281 563 608 672 673 678 679 781
  • Clyde (780)-348
  • Cold Lake (780)-594 639 654 840
  • Devon (780)-987
  • Donnelly (780)-925
  • Drayton Valley (780)-202 234 241 514 515 542 621 898
  • Eaglesham (780)-359
  • Edmonton (780)-200 203 217 218 220 221 222 224 229 231 232 233 235 236 237 238 239 240 242 243 244 245 246 248 250 257 263 264 265 266 267 270 271 278 288 289 292 293 297 298 299 318 328 340 341 342 371 377 378 391 392 394 395 399 401 405 406 407 408 409 412 413 414 415 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 461 462 463 465 466 468 469 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 495 496 497 498 499 500 503 504 508 509 530 540 554 566 577 604 613 616 619 628 633 634 637 638 641 642 643 644 652 660 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 680 686 690 691 695 699 700 701 702 705 707 708 709 710 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 729 732 733 735 752 756 757 758 760 761 777 782 784 800 801 802 803 807 809 818 819 822 850 860 862 863 868 884 885 886 887 893 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 908 909 910 913 914 915 916 917 918 919 920 930 932 934 935 937 938 940 944 945 951 952 953 964 965 966 969 970 974 975 976 977 982 983 984 988 989 990 991 993 994 995 996 999
  • Edson (780)-225 280 517 556 600 712 723 725 728
  • Evansburg (780)-727
  • Fairview (780)-330 834 835
  • Falher (780)-837
  • Fort McMurray (780)-215 370 381 531 588 598 607 713 714 715 734 742 743 747 748 749 750 762 788 790 791 792 793 799 804 838 880 881 972
  • Fort Saskatchewan (780)-589 912 936 992 997 998
  • Fort Vermilion (780)-927
  • Fox Creek (780)-622
  • Grande Cache (780)-320 501 783 827
  • Grande Prairie (780)-228 230 296 357 380 402 505 512 513 518 532 533 538 539 605 653 814 830 831 832 833 876 882 897 933 978
  • High Level (780)-247 285 502 730 821 841 926
  • High Prairie (780)-291 316 507 523 536
  • Hinton (780)-223 315 740 816 817 865
  • Jasper (780)-317 820 852 883 931
  • La Crete (780)-928
  • Leduc (780)-599 612 739 769 900 980 986
  • Mayerthorpe (780)-786
  • McLennan (780)-324
  • Morinville (780)-939 572
  • Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement (780)-981
  • Peace River (780)-219 274 527 561 617 618 624 625 859
  • Sangudo (780)-785
  • Seba Beach (780)-797
  • Sherwood Park (780)-400 410 416 417 449 464 467 570 601 630 640
  • Silver Valley (780)-351
  • Slave Lake (780)-260 516 529 805 843 849
  • Spruce Grove (780)-571 946 948 960 962
  • St. Albert (780)-347 418 419 458 459 460 470 544 569 590 602 651 671
  • St. Paul (780)-210, 290, 614, 615, 645, 646
  • Stony Plain (780)-569 591 823 963 968
  • Valleyview (780)-255 300 301 524 552 558
  • Vegreville (780)-208 275 543 603 606 631 632
  • Vermilion (780)-581, 853
  • Wainwright (780)-261 703 842 845
  • Westlock (780)-206 283 287 307 349 562
  • Wetaskiwin (780)-312 335 352 360 361 362 364 368 839
  • Whitecourt (780)-262 268 286 396 706 746 778 779
  • Wildwood (780)-325
  • West Lloydminster (780)-205 214 522 677 808 861 870 871 872 874 875

Relief planning

The projected exhaust date for area code 780 was October 2009.[3] A new area code, 587, was introduced on September 12, 2008. The 780 area code, simultaneously with area code 403, was overlaid with the new area code, which will cover the entire province. The assignment of 587 numbers in 780 and 403 territory began on September 19, 2008.[4]

See also

References
  1. Let your fingers do the 10-digit walking
  2. CNA exchange list for area +1-780 Archived July 10, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Canadian Numbering Administrator Website Archived August 13, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Area Code 587
Alberta area codes: 403, 587/825, 780
North: 867
West: 250/778/236/672 780 (overlaid with 587 and 825) East: 306/639
South: 403/587
British Columbia area codes: 236/672/778, 250, 604
Saskatchewan area codes: 306, 639
Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut area codes: 867

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