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What is the 900 number range?

Reviewed by Sujan ThapaliyaLast updated

What is area code 900?

900 is a non-geographic code in the North American Numbering Plan. It is not assigned to any city or state, and it is not an ordinary area code you can be assigned as a business or personal number.
Where area code 900 sits in a North American number: the three-digit area code, then the three-digit exchange code, then the four-digit line number, all under country code 1. The diagram also shows the two validity rules — an area code never starts with 0 or 1, and a repeated middle digit marks a service code such as 800 for toll-free rather than a place.
The 1 you dial before a ten-digit number is a long-distance prefix, not part of the number itself.

Area code 900

Type
Non-geographic code
Coverage
North American Numbering Plan

Step by step

How to call a 900 number

The same ten digits, dialled three different ways depending on where you are calling from.

  1. 1

    Within the same area code

    Many carriers still allow seven digits inside 900, but overlays have made ten-digit dialling the safe default. Dial 900 followed by the seven-digit number.
  2. 2

    From elsewhere in the US or Canada

    Dial 1, then 900, then the seven-digit number — eleven digits in total. The leading 1 is the North American long-distance prefix, not part of the number.
  3. 3

    From outside North America

    Dial your country's exit code, then 1 for the North American Numbering Plan, then 900, then the seven-digit number. On a mobile, type + instead of the exit code: +1 900 followed by the number works from any country.

Background

About 900

900 is the premium-rate range: the *caller* pays, sometimes heavily. Most mobile carriers block 900 by default. No legitimate business asks you to call a 900 number for support.

Unwanted calls

Why you are getting 900 calls

The reason an unfamiliar 900 number keeps calling is usually neighbour spoofing: automated systems fake a caller ID in the recipient’s own area code because a local-looking number is answered far more often than an unfamiliar one. The number displayed is frequently not the number placing the call, and may belong to someone with no idea it is being used.

What actually helps:

  • Let unknown numbers go to voicemail. Automated diallers rarely leave a message; a real caller will.
  • Do not press any key to be removed. On an automated call, a keypress confirms a live human and increases the volume you get.
  • Register on the national Do Not Call list and report unwanted calls. It does not stop fraud, but it does constrain legitimate telemarketers.
  • Turn on your carrier’s call-filtering service. Filtering now uses STIR/SHAKEN attestation, which is why properly signed business calls get through and spoofed ones increasingly do not.

If you are calling into 900 rather than receiving from it, the relevant reading is branded caller ID — the same signals that decide whether a call from this code gets answered decide whether yours does.

Frequently asked questions

Where is area code 900?
900 is not assigned to any location. No region in the North American Numbering Plan uses it.
Is a call from 900 a scam?
A call displaying 900 is spoofed, because 900 is not assigned to anyone. That does not automatically mean fraud (some legitimate systems display malformed caller ID) but you should treat it with the same caution as any unknown call.
Can I be assigned a 900 number?
Not as an ordinary business or personal line. 900 is set aside for a specific service rather than allocated to subscribers by geography, so it is not part of the pool a carrier draws local numbers from.
Why does 900 look like an area code but behave differently?
Because it occupies the same three-digit slot in the number. Position alone does not tell you what a code means — an area code, a toll-free code, and a reserved service code all sit in the same place in a ten-digit North American number, and only the assignment records say which is which.

Sources

  1. North American Numbering Plan Administrator — NANPAArea code assignments, relief planning, and which codes are in service across the North American Numbering Plan.
  2. ITU-T Recommendation E.164 — The international public telecommunication numbering plan — International Telecommunication UnionThe international number format, the 15-digit maximum, and how country codes and national numbers compose.

Make your business calls get answered

Owned numbers, branded caller ID, and Attestation A signing on every call: the three things that decide whether your calls get labelled or answered.

  • Branded caller ID (CNAM)
  • STIR/SHAKEN Attestation A
  • No subscription
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