803
Area code
SC
United States geographic area code, in service since 1947-01-01. Part of the 803/839 overlay complex — ten-digit dialing required.
Statusin service
Introduced1947-01-01
JurisdictionSC, 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 2001-01-18, most recent 2026-09-11.
Area codes serve rate-center geographies, not municipal boundaries. “SC” 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 SOUTHERN BELL TEL & TEL | 175 | 21.9% |
| 02 | CELLCO PARTNERSHIP DBA VERIZON WIRELESS - SC | 111 | 13.9% |
| 03 | NEW CINGULAR WIRELESS PCS, LLC - GA | 80 | 10% |
| 04 | SUNCOM DBA T-MOBILE USA | 44 | 5.5% |
| 05 | PAETEC ITEL, LLC | 40 | 5% |
| 06 | LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC - SC | 32 | 4% |
| 07 | ONVOY, LLC - SC | 29 | 3.6% |
| 08 | FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS OF THE CAROLINAS INC. - SC | 23 | 2.9% |
| 09 | BANDWIDTH.COM CLEC, LLC - SC | 21 | 2.6% |
| 10 | TWC IP ENABLED SERVICES, LLC | 20 | 2.5% |
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- 2018-09-18 NPA 839 to Overlay NPA 803 (South Carolina)
- 1947-01-01Area code 803 entered service.
Planning letters & orders
Primary documents| Date | Document | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-09-18 | PL-520 ↗ | NPA 839 to Overlay NPA 803 (South Carolina) |