646
Area code
NY
United States geographic area code, in service since 1999-07-01. Part of the 212/332/646/917 overlay complex — ten-digit dialing required.
Statusin service
Introduced1999-07-01
JurisdictionNY, US
Local dialing1+10D
Time zoneEastern
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 2001-01-23, most recent 2023-11-15.
Area codes serve rate-center geographies, not municipal boundaries. “NY” identifies the jurisdiction, not an exact city footprint.
Top assignees
Ranked by assigned prefixes · initial assignee ≠ current carrier| Rank | Assignee | Prefixes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | OMNIPOINT COMMUNICATIONS, INC. - NY | 192 | 24% |
| 02 | VERIZON NEW YORK, INC. | 92 | 11.5% |
| 03 | CELLCO PARTNERSHIP DBA VERIZON WIRELESS - NY | 84 | 10.5% |
| 04 | NEW CINGULAR WIRELESS PCS, LLC - DC | 72 | 9% |
| 05 | PAETEC ITEL, LLC | 66 | 8.3% |
| 06 | LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC - NY | 59 | 7.4% |
| 07 | MCIMETRO ACCESS TRANSMISSION SERVICES LLC | 45 | 5.6% |
| 08 | BANDWIDTH.COM CLEC, LLC - NY | 32 | 4% |
| 09 | ONVOY, LLC- NY | 20 | 2.5% |
| 10 | METROPCS, INC. | 20 | 2.5% |
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- 1999-07-01Area code 646 entered service (created from 212).
Planning letters & orders
Primary documents| Date | Document | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 2015-12-21 | PL-489 ↗ | NPA 332 to Overlay NPAs 212/646/917 (New York) |
| 2002-02-14 | PL-314 ↗ | New York 212/646, 718/347 and 917 Mandatory 10D Dialing Implementation |
| 1999-05-07 | PL-175 ↗ | Overlay of 212 (New York) Numbering Plan Area (NPA) |