978
Area code
MA
United States geographic area code, in service since 1997-09-01. Part of the 351/978 overlay complex — ten-digit dialing required.
Statusin service
Introduced1997-09-01
JurisdictionMA, US
Local dialing10D
Time zoneEastern
Last verified2026-09-17
Utilization 100.5% of assignable prefixes assigned
As of 09/17/2026
0%796 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 2001-01-08, most recent 2026-01-05.
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 | VERIZON NEW ENGLAND INC. | 221 | 27.8% |
| 02 | PAETEC ITEL, LLC | 90 | 11.3% |
| 03 | LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC - MA | 86 | 10.8% |
| 04 | MCIMETRO ACCESS TRANSMISSION SERVICES LLC | 71 | 8.9% |
| 05 | CELLCO PARTNERSHIP DBA VERIZON WIRELESS - MA | 59 | 7.4% |
| 06 | TC SYSTEMS, INC. | 39 | 4.9% |
| 07 | OMNIPOINT MIAMI E LICENSE, LLC | 36 | 4.5% |
| 08 | NEW CINGULAR WIRELESS PCS, LLC - DC | 32 | 4% |
| 09 | BANDWIDTH.COM CLEC, LLC - MA | 32 | 4% |
| 10 | METROPCS, INC. | 25 | 3.1% |
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- 1997-09-01Area code 978 entered service (created from 508).
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) |
| 1998-06-09 | PL-122 ↗ | Extraordinary Jeopardy Procedures for 508, 617, 781 and 978 Numbering Plan Area (NPA) in Massachusetts |
| 1997-12-10 | PL-104 ↗ | Additional Changes to the Split of 508 & 617 NPAs (Massachusetts) |
| 1997-10-07 | PL-095 ↗ | Extension in the Permissive Dialing Period for the 508 and 617 NPA Relief Plans (Massachusetts) |
| 1997-06-16 | PL-068 ↗ | NANP-Split of 508 (Massachusetts) Numbering Plan Area (NPA) |