State Idaho | ||
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Cities Boise, Nampa, Meridian, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Falls | ||
Area code 208
208 is the North American telephone area code for all of Idaho.
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Because of its small population, Idaho is among a declining number of North American jurisdictions with only one area code. It is also one of the few whole-state area codes split between multiple LATAs—Southern Idaho (centered in Boise and spilling into Nevada, Wyoming and Malheur County, Oregon) and Coeur d'Alene (spilling into Montana and Washington). Additionally, the Spokane, Washington LATA spills into central Idaho.
In 2001, the Federal Communications Commission projected the 208 area code would be exhausted in 2003. Due to the multi-LATA structure of 208, several numbers in Montana's 406, Wyoming's 307, northern Nevada's 775, eastern Oregon's 541 and eastern Washington's 509 weren't available for use. The number shortage was exacerbated by the proliferation of cell phones and pagers, particularly in urban areas. However, in 2002 the IPUC was able to successfully delay a split by implementing number pooling in Boise; this was later applied in 2007 to the rest of Idaho to stave off projected exhaustion in 2010.
At current projections, 208 is expected to exhaust by 2018 and a second area code may be needed in Idaho by then, as the state's population grows closer to two million; 11 other states with single area codes all have populations of about a million each. By 2013, it was obvious that all conservation measures had been exhausted, and a statewide overlay was recommended.
On November 2, 2015, the Idaho PUC approved the addition of area code 986 as a statewide overlay, starting 5 September 2017. This was done to spare Idahoans, particularly in rural areas, the expense and burden of having to change their numbers. It will be the second statewide overlay, following the example of area codes 304 and 681 in West Virginia.