Speaking during the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing last month, state Rep. While a single area code can theoretically include 7.7 million different seven-digit phone numbers, “the problem is that phone numbers are allocated in a very inefficient manner because of how the telephone switching network was constructed in the pre-digital era,” the newspaper explained in an article last November. Īnd New Hampshire leaders have been working to keep 603 phone numbers around since at least 1990, according to the Concord Monitor. Faced with the possibility of running out of phone numbers with a 207 area code by 2025, Maine was able to extend the code’s shelf life by curbing robocallers and taking a second look at forecasting and block request practices, according to the Portland Press Herald. Regina Birdsell explained just before the vote. “In order to ensure that ‘603’ will remain New Hampshire’s exclusive area code in the years to come, my Administration is taking all available steps at our disposal, and we are confident that the actions taken in this Executive Order will help prolong the exhaustion date by many years - giving residents and businesses peace of mind!”īut, as Bradley noted, “we can do more, and that’s where the bill comes in.”Īptly titled SB 603-FN, the Senate bill that passed last week is partly inspired by successful area code conservation efforts in Maine, state Sen. “Our 603 Area Code is a point of pride in New Hampshire,” Sununu said in a statement at the time. Chris Sununu signed an executive order (dubbed “Don’t Overload the Code”) ordering New Hampshire’s Department of Energy to “investigate durable strategies” to conserve the area code.

He noted that the state has taken some steps already last fall, Gov. New Hampshire will likely need a second area code if it doesn’t take action, Bradley said, and a new code “would dilute our brand.” NH troopers shoot and kill armed man during a foot pursuit with a police dog, AG saysĪccording to Bradley, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, which oversees telephone numbering throughout the continent, projects that numbers with a 603 area code will run out sometime in the next three or four years.

New hampshire phone book