Maine’s 207 area code gets another 3.5 years

Maine’s only area code for phone calls is proving to be as resilient and stubborn as some of the people who live here.

Once predicted to run out of number sequences in 2025, Maine is now expected to be able to continue issuing new phone numbers using the 207 area code until September of 2032, according to the North American Number Plan Administrator.

That’s a three-and-a-half-year extension to the most recent estimate of 2029, the Maine Public Utilities Commission said in a news release Thursday.

“This is one of the longest extensions of our exhaust date since we began our work to preserve Maine’s single area code,” PUC Chair Philip L. Bartlett II said in a written statement.

Maine is one of only 11 states to have a single area code, and it’s one that’s deeply ingrained in the state’s identity.

The PUC said Maine has been a national leader in searching for innovative ways to preserve the area code as requests for new phone numbers increased along with the number of phone service providers and the proliferation of robocalling and voice-over-internet calling services.

All of North America could run out of area codes by 2051, which would increase phone numbers from the standard 10 digits to 12 digits, according to the PUC.

Bartlett said that Maine’s efforts could extend the state’s single area code for an additional 20 years beyond the most recent prediction.

“Our staff has looked at several practices that have impacted the rate at which our numbers were being tied up, including forecasting and block request practices, curbing the use of numbering resources by robocalls, and encouraging providers to work collaboratively,” he said. “We believe that our continued efforts to ensure numbers are used in the most efficient manner possible could extend the life of Maine’s single area code out until the 2050s.”