857
Area code
MA
United States geographic area code, in service since 2001-05-02. Part of the 617/857 overlay complex — ten-digit dialing required.
Statusin service
Introduced2001-05-02
JurisdictionMA, US
Local dialing10D
Time zoneEastern
Last verified2026-09-17
Utilization 48.2% of assignable prefixes assigned
As of 09/17/2026
0%382 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 2001-03-19, most recent 2026-06-30.
Area codes serve rate-center geographies, not municipal boundaries. “MA” identifies the jurisdiction, not an exact city footprint.
Top assignees
Ranked by assigned prefixes · initial assignee ≠ current carrier| Rank | Assignee | Prefixes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | CELLCO PARTNERSHIP DBA VERIZON WIRELESS - MA | 67 | 17.5% |
| 02 | OMNIPOINT MIAMI E LICENSE, LLC | 61 | 16% |
| 03 | ONVOY, LLC - MA | 42 | 11% |
| 04 | METROPCS, INC. | 25 | 6.5% |
| 05 | PAETEC ITEL, LLC | 19 | 5% |
| 06 | NEW CINGULAR WIRELESS PCS, LLC - DC | 18 | 4.7% |
| 07 | VERIZON NEW ENGLAND INC. | 17 | 4.5% |
| 08 | MCIMETRO ACCESS TRANSMISSION SERVICES LLC | 13 | 3.4% |
| 09 | LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC - MA | 10 | 2.6% |
| 10 | BANDWIDTH.COM CLEC, LLC - MA | 10 | 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- 2001-05-02Area code 857 entered service (created from 617).
Planning letters & orders
Primary documents| Date | Document | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 2000-07-11 | PL-234 ↗ | NPA 774 To Overlay NPA 508; NPA 857 To Overlay NPA 617; NPA 339 To Overlay NPA 781; and NPA 351 To Overlay NPA 978 (Massachusetts) |