Area codes 256 and 938 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for North Alabama, as well as some eastern portions of the state. The two area codes form an overlay plan for the same numbering plan area. Area code 256 was created in 1998, and 938 was added in 2010.
Area code 256 was created on March 23, 1998, in an area code split from area code 205. A permissive dialing period, that permitted time to reprogram computers, cell phones, pagers and fax machines, allowed the use of 205 through September 28, 1998.
In March 2009, the Alabama Public Service Commission announced that the state's first all-services overlay area code, 938, would be added to the area of the 256 area code "sometime in 2011". As a result, ten-digit dialing was implemented for all numbers in the area with voluntary compliance beginning on November 7, 2009, and mandatory use by June 5, 2010, instead of dialing 7 digits. The 938 area code took effect on July 10, 2010. This timing roughly coincided with the end of the originally projected 12-year "life span" of the original 256 area code.
The numbering plan area comprises north and northeast Alabama and includes the following metropolitan areas: