540
Area code
VA
United States geographic area code, in service since 1995-07-15. Part of the 540/826 overlay complex — ten-digit dialing required.
Split from 703. Created 276. Created 826. Overlaid with 826 .
Statusin service
Introduced1995-07-15
JurisdictionVA, US
Local dialing10D
Time zoneEastern
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 2001-01-10, most recent 2023-09-28.
Area codes serve rate-center geographies, not municipal boundaries. “VA” identifies the jurisdiction, not an exact city footprint.
Top assignees
Ranked by assigned prefixes · initial assignee ≠ current carrier| Rank | Assignee | Prefixes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | VERIZON VIRGINIA, INC. | 156 | 19.5% |
| 02 | CELLCO PARTNERSHIP DBA VERIZON WIRELESS - VA | 79 | 9.9% |
| 03 | NEW CINGULAR WIRELESS PCS, LLC - DC | 66 | 8.3% |
| 04 | OMNIPOINT COMMUNICATIONS CAP OPERATIONS, LLC | 64 | 8% |
| 05 | LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC - VA | 50 | 6.3% |
| 06 | VERIZON SOUTH, INC. - VA (CONTEL) | 35 | 4.4% |
| 07 | ONVOY, LLC - VA | 30 | 3.8% |
| 08 | BRIGHTSPEED OF VIRGINIA, LLC | 28 | 3.5% |
| 09 | METROPCS, INC. | 25 | 3.1% |
| 10 | BANDWIDTH.COM CLEC, LLC - VA | 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- 2020-08-18 NPA 540 and 826 All-Services Overlay (Virginia) other
- 1995-07-15Area code 540 entered service (created from 703).
Planning letters & orders
Primary documents| Date | Document | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-08-18 | PL-545 ↗ | NPA 540 and 826 All-Services Overlay (Virginia) |
| 2002-03-28 | PL-319 ↗ | 540/276 NPA Split - Extended Permissive For Additional Wireless Codes (Virginia) |
| 2001-06-07 | PL-285 ↗ | Correction 540/276 NPA Split (Virginia) |
| 2001-05-01 | PL-275 ↗ | 540 NPA Split; Creating 276 NPA (Virginia) |
| 2000-01-21 | PL-207 ↗ | Extraordinary NPA - Specific Jeopardy Conservation Procedures Announced for the 540 NPA (Virginia) |
| 1995-04-21 | IL-95-04-007 ↗ | NANP-ADVANCE OF 703 NPA (VIRGINIA) PERMISSIVE DIALING PERIOD |
| 1994-08-09 | IL-94-08-005 ↗ | NANP-SPLIT OF 703 (VIRGINIA) NUMBERING PLAN AREA (NPA) |