864
Area code
SC
United States geographic area code, in service since 1995-12-03. Part of the 821/864 overlay complex — ten-digit dialing required.
Statusin service
Introduced1995-12-03
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 2024-12-05.
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 | 95 | 11.9% |
| 03 | PAETEC ITEL, LLC | 78 | 9.8% |
| 04 | NEW CINGULAR WIRELESS PCS, LLC - GA | 70 | 8.8% |
| 05 | SUNCOM DBA T-MOBILE USA | 63 | 7.9% |
| 06 | ONVOY, LLC - SC | 48 | 6% |
| 07 | LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC - SC | 30 | 3.8% |
| 08 | BANDWIDTH.COM CLEC, LLC - SC | 22 | 2.8% |
| 09 | ONVOY SPECTRUM, LLC | 17 | 2.1% |
| 10 | CHARTER IP ENABLED SERVICES, LLC | 16 | 2% |
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- 2022-11-28 NPA 821 to Overlay NPA 864 (South Carolina)
- 1995-12-03Area code 864 entered service (created from 803).
Planning letters & orders
Primary documents| Date | Document | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-11-28 | PL-606 ↗ | NPA 821 to Overlay NPA 864 (South Carolina) |
| 1995-03-14 | IL-95-03-006 ↗ | NANP-SPLIT OF 803 (SOUTH CAROLINA) NUMBERING PLAN AREA (NPA) |