406
Area code

MT

United States geographic area code, in service since 1947-01-01.

Statusin service
Introduced1947-01-01
JurisdictionMT, US
Local dialing10D
Time zoneMountain
Last verified2026-09-17
Utilization 97% of assignable prefixes assigned As of 09/17/2026
0%768 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 2001-04-18, most recent 2026-06-05.

Area codes serve rate-center geographies, not municipal boundaries. “MT” identifies the jurisdiction, not an exact city footprint.

Top assignees

Ranked by assigned prefixes · initial assignee ≠ current carrier
Largest initial assignees in area code 406
RankAssigneePrefixesShare
01 QWEST CORPORATION 132 17.2%
02 CELLCO PARTNERSHIP DBA VERIZON WIRELESS - MT 119 15.5%
03 NEW CINGULAR WIRELESS PCS, LLC 74 9.6%
04 ONVOY, LLC - MT 43 5.6%
05 TRIANGLE TEL. COOP. ASSN., INC. 39 5.1%
06 NEMONT TEL COOP INC 33 4.3%
07 MID-RIVERS TEL. COOP., INC. 27 3.5%
08 LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC - MT 27 3.5%
09 CHARTER IP ENABLED SERVICES, LLC 26 3.4%
10 3 RIVERS TEL. COOP., INC. 26 3.4%

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
  • 1947-01-01Area code 406 entered service.

Planning letters & orders

Primary documents
NANPA planning letters for area code 406
DateDocumentSubject
2021-01-08 PL-556 ↗ Transition to 10-digit dialing (for 988 as 3-digit access to National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) – supersedes PL-544
2020-08-17 PL-544 ↗ Transition to 10-digit dialing (for 988 as 3-digit access to National Suicide Prevention Hotline

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