Editing Area codes 508 and 774 (section)

==History==
Massachusetts was originally divided into two numbering plan areas, when AT&T published the configuration of the first nationwide [[telephone numbering plan]] for [[Operator Toll Dialing]] in 1947. [[Area code 617]] was assigned to the eastern two-thirds of Massachusetts from roughly the western end of [[Worcester County, MA|Worcester County]] to [[Boston]], [[The Cape and Islands]], and the [[South Coast (Massachusetts)|South Coast]], while the western part received [[area code 413]].

Area code 508 was activated for service on July 16, 1988, in an [[area code split]] of 617,<ref name=NANPA>{{cite web
|url=https://www.nationalnanpa.com/pdf/old_pl/IL-87-07-003.pdf
|title=Split of the 617 Numbering Plan Area (NPA)
|publisher=Bell Communications Research, NANPA
|date=1987-07-02
|access-date=2023-05-26
}}</ref> with a semicircle around Boston retaining 617 and the central offices in the northern, western, and southern parts of the area being reassigned to area code 508. Permissive dialing of 617 and 508 continued until January 1, 1989.

On September 1, 1997, numbering plan area 508 was split, whereby [[area code 978]] was assigned to the northern part of the service area.

Area code 774 was added to the 508 numbering plan area on May 2, 2001, forming an [[overlay complex]] and making [[ten-digit dialing]] mandatory for all calls.

Some mobile telephone numbers assigned in the 1990s in communities in the former northern half of 508 (now the 978 area code) kept the area code after the split.{{cn|date=April 2020}}

As of 2018, NPA 508/774 is projected to be exhausted by 2045.<ref>[https://www.nationalnanpa.com/reports/2018-2_NPA_Exhaust_Projections_Final.pdf 2018 October NANPA Exhaust Projections]</ref>