Area code split
PORTION OF AN EXISTING AREA CODE GIVEN A NEW ONE, WITH A NEW GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARY SEPARATING THE TWO
Geographic split; Split plan
In telecommunications, an area code split is the practice of introducing a new telephone area code by geographically dividing an existing numbering plan area (NPA), and assigning area codes to the resulting divisions, but retaining the existing area code only for one of the divisions. The purpose of this practice is to provide more central office prefixes, and therefore more telephone numbers, in an area with high demand for telephone services, and prevent a shortage of telephone numbers.