A new area code has arrived in Colorado.
Starting July 7, the 748 area code will exist within the current 970 area code, overlapping the entire existing region, which stretches from the northern Eastern Plains to the Western Slope. The change will affect Aspen, Breckenridge, Estes Park, Fort Collins, Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction, Greeley, Loveland, Silverthorne, Vail and other communities.
“It's different. It rolls off my tongue differently,” said Joanelle Morales of Grand Junction, who was walking with her husband along Main Street. She said she was shocked but open to the change. “I mean, area codes have meaning. Like, when I see 970, I think immediately, Here.”
“There isn't a whole lot of impact to the consumer. If you already have a 970 area code phone number, that does not change,” Daryl Branson, Telecom Section Chief for the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, said. “It does not affect any existing phone numbers. It will only impact new phone numbers that are issued in that geographic area.”
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission said the price of a call, as well as other rates and services, will not change due to the additional overlay.
Residents on landlines in the region will now dial 10 digits — area code and phone number — for local calls within and between the overlay area codes. They’ll dial 1 + 10 digits for long-distance calls and include the area code when the number is given out. They can still dial just three digits to reach 911 and 988 as well as 211, 311, 411, 511, 611, 711, or 811 for essential community services if available in their respective community.
Branson said, depending on the phone provider, some people were able to use seven-digit dialing on their landlines when the 970 area code served one area. That won’t work once the 748 area comes into the region.
“That doesn't work anymore if there are multiple area codes,” Branson said. “So, some phone providers in that region may have had to update their equipment to require 10-digit dialing from all of their customers. That won't affect most people because if you are using a cell phone, for instance, you have to dial 10 digits anyway.”
The North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA), the federal body that tracks how many numbers are being issued to different telephone companies, must file a petition with the state regulatory body three years before it projects when phone numbers will run out.
NANPA filed a petition with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission after it projected the 970 phone numbers would run out by the end of the year or the first quarter of 2026. Branson said this is due to population growth and residents buying multiple phone lines.
“It's a matter of different phone companies buying phone numbers to sell in that geographic area, more people living in those areas, more businesses using phone numbers in those areas,” Branson said. “Over time, we've also found that people are getting multiple phone numbers depending on if they want a different phone number for work as opposed to their personal use for their cell phone. And all of that just leads to an exhaustion of the available phone numbers in a certain area code.”
There’s a nine-month implementation plan that goes into assigning new area codes. That gives phone service providers time to update their equipment. Branson said, based on the NANPA petition, 748 phone numbers could be issued on July 7. But residents and businesses shouldn’t expect to see the new numbers anytime soon.
“No 748 area code phone numbers will be issued until the 970 area code is completely exhausted. So, we won't actually see any of those issued probably until either late this year or early next year,” Branson said.
The new area code is expected to last 38 years. It is the second new area code introduced in Colorado since 2021. The Denver metro area was introduced to the 983 area code in June 2022.
