205
Area code
AL
United States geographic area code, in service since 1947-01-01. Part of the 205/659 overlay complex — ten-digit dialing required.
Statusin service
Introduced1947-01-01
JurisdictionAL, US
Local dialing10D
Time zoneCentral
Last verified2026-09-17
Utilization 101% of assignable prefixes assigned
As of 09/17/2026
0%800 of ~792 assignable NXX values (200–999 excl. N11)100%
Prefix-level assignment does not equal number-level exhaustion; thousands-block pooling extends capacity. First assignment on record 2001-01-29, most recent 2025-06-27.
Area codes serve rate-center geographies, not municipal boundaries. “AL” identifies the jurisdiction, not an exact city footprint.
Top assignees
Ranked by assigned prefixes · initial assignee ≠ current carrier| Rank | Assignee | Prefixes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | BELLSOUTH TELECOMM INC DBA SOUTH CENTRAL BELL TEL | 224 | 28% |
| 02 | NEW CINGULAR WIRELESS PCS, LLC - GA | 92 | 11.5% |
| 03 | CELLCO PARTNERSHIP DBA VERIZON WIRELESS - AL | 84 | 10.5% |
| 04 | PAETEC ITEL, LLC | 53 | 6.6% |
| 05 | POWERTEL BIRMINGHAM LICENSES, INC. | 42 | 5.3% |
| 06 | BRIGHTSPEED OF ALABAMA, LLC - NORTHERN | 35 | 4.4% |
| 07 | METROPCS, INC. | 33 | 4.1% |
| 08 | ONVOY, LLC - AL | 31 | 3.9% |
| 09 | BANDWIDTH.COM CLEC, LLC - AL | 28 | 3.5% |
| 10 | SPOK, INC. | 21 | 2.6% |
Important: these are initial assignees from NANPA CO-code records — the carrier a prefix was originally assigned to. Because of number portability, the current serving carrier of any individual number may differ.
Change history
Recorded events for this NPA- 2018-10-08 NPA 659 to Overlay NPA 205 (Alabama)
- 1947-01-01Area code 205 entered service.
Planning letters & orders
Primary documents| Date | Document | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-10-08 | PL-523 ↗ | NPA 659 to Overlay NPA 205 (Alabama) |
| 2001-07-16 | PL-289 ↗ | Suspension of 205/659 NPA Relief (Alabama) |
| 2001-06-07 | PL-284 ↗ | New NPA 659 to Overlay NPA 205 (Alabama) |