480
Area code
AZ
United States geographic area code, in service since 1999-03-01. Part of the 480/602/623 overlay complex — ten-digit dialing required.
Statusin service
Introduced1999-03-01
JurisdictionAZ, US
Local dialing10D
Time zoneMountain
Last verified2026-09-17
Utilization 100.9% of assignable prefixes assigned
As of 09/17/2026
0%799 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 2001-01-12, most recent 2026-09-14.
Area codes serve rate-center geographies, not municipal boundaries. “AZ” identifies the jurisdiction, not an exact city footprint.
Top assignees
Ranked by assigned prefixes · initial assignee ≠ current carrier| Rank | Assignee | Prefixes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | QWEST CORPORATION | 234 | 29.3% |
| 02 | CELLCO PARTNERSHIP DBA VERIZON WIRELESS - AZ | 125 | 15.6% |
| 03 | NEW CINGULAR WIRELESS PCS, LLC | 79 | 9.9% |
| 04 | T-MOBILE USA, INC. | 61 | 7.6% |
| 05 | MCIMETRO ACCESS TRANSMISSION SERVICES LLC | 46 | 5.8% |
| 06 | ONVOY, LLC - AZ | 40 | 5% |
| 07 | TELEPORT COMMUNICATIONS AMERICA, LLC - AZ | 34 | 4.3% |
| 08 | LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC - AZ | 30 | 3.8% |
| 09 | COMCAST IP PHONE, LLC | 26 | 3.3% |
| 10 | BANDWIDTH.COM CLEC, LLC - AZ | 24 | 3% |
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- 2021-12-30 NPA 480, 602 and 623 Boundary Elimination Overlay (Arizona) other
- 1999-03-01Area code 480 entered service (created from 602).
Planning letters & orders
Primary documents| Date | Document | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-12-30 | PL-576 ↗ | NPA 480, 602 and 623 Boundary Elimination Overlay (Arizona) |
| 2021-01-08 | PL-556 ↗ | Transition to 10-digit dialing (for 988 as 3-digit access to National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) – supersedes PL-544 |
| 2020-08-17 | PL-544 ↗ | Transition to 10-digit dialing (for 988 as 3-digit access to National Suicide Prevention Hotline |
| 2000-02-24 | PL-216 ↗ | Permissive Dialing Extended for Eleven Central Office Codes in the 602 NPA (Arizona) |
| 1999-07-21 | PL-181 ↗ | Urgent reminder to update networks for the 602 NPA Split in Phoenix, Arizona with the new 623 and 480 NPAs |
| 1999-02-01 | PL-153 ↗ | NANP-Split of the 602 (Arizona) Numbering Plan Area (NPA) and the Addition of the 480 and 623 NPA's |