Lower Demand for New Area Codes

Forbes:

Despite growing demand for phone numbers, the need for new area codes sharply declined since 2001, mainly because new regulations cut down on wasted telephone numbers.

The stress on area codes also eased as the end of the telecommunications boom chased small startup companies from the phone market, freeing numbers those companies had hoped to provide. Consumers also dumped pagers for cell phones.

As a result, area codes old and new are in better shape than expected five years ago.