The new area code effectively divides the state into east and west halves, and separates the metropolitan Baltimore area from the close-in Washington suburbs. A second area code should leave the state with enough telephone numbers to last until 2015, Burman said. The proliferation of mobile phones, pagers, facsimile machines and home phones threatened to deplete the state's 7.6 million numbers by June 1993, according to Al Burman, a C&P spokesman.Ībout 5 million numbers are in use. customers across the eastern half of the state must redo their stationery, reprogram electronic dialing systems and, in some cases, reconsider which telephone exchange best suits them.Ĭ&P officials said they are dividing the state into two area codes because they were running out of telephone numbers. "I'll cope, but I won't like it."Ĭhesapeake and Potomac Telephone Co. "It is going to be a pain in the neck," Washington said. Once the new area code is fully activated, in about a year, Washington will have to dial 10 digits instead of seven to call across the street. The 50-year-old Columbia resident will end up in a different area code from her next-door neighbor and most of Howard County as a result of the change. Caught in the middle is Wallis Washington. The other half gets to keep the state's existing 301 area code. Half of Maryland gets a new 410 telephone area code on Nov.