972
Area code
TX
United States geographic area code, in service since 1996-09-14. Part of the 214/469/945/972 overlay complex — ten-digit dialing required.
Statusin service
Introduced1996-09-14
JurisdictionTX, US
Local dialing10D
Time zoneCentral
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 2001-04-19, most recent 2025-12-29.
Area codes serve rate-center geographies, not municipal boundaries. “TX” identifies the jurisdiction, not an exact city footprint.
Top assignees
Ranked by assigned prefixes · initial assignee ≠ current carrier| Rank | Assignee | Prefixes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | SOUTHWESTERN BELL | 307 | 38.4% |
| 02 | FRONTIER SOUTHWEST INC DBA FRONTIER COMM OF TEXAS | 183 | 22.9% |
| 03 | NEW CINGULAR WIRELESS PCS, LLC - IL | 58 | 7.2% |
| 04 | MCIMETRO ACCESS TRANSMISSION SERVICES LLC | 55 | 6.9% |
| 05 | ONVOY, LLC - TX | 24 | 3% |
| 06 | SPOK, INC. | 20 | 2.5% |
| 07 | GRANDE COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS, INC. - TX | 19 | 2.4% |
| 08 | TELEPORT COMMUNICATIONS AMERICA, LLC - TX | 17 | 2.1% |
| 09 | SOUTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY - TX | 17 | 2.1% |
| 10 | LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC - TX | 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- 1997-04-08 Declaration of Jeopardy Situation in NPA 972 (Texas) jeopardy
- 1996-09-14Area code 972 entered service (created from 214).
Planning letters & orders
Primary documents| Date | Document | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-04-08 | PL-537 ↗ | NPA 945 to Overlay 214/469/972 (Texas) |
| 1996-08-05 | PL-005 ↗ | NANP-Split of 214 (Texas) Numbering Plan Area (NPA) |