Area code 727
Area code 727 covers Pinellas County, Florida, and the western third of Pasco County. For 43 years, the 13 counties around Tampa Bay, including cities such as Sarasota, Ellenton, and Port Charlotte were in area code 813. In 1998, Pinellas County and the western part of Pasco County were split into area code 727.
727 was originally going to be introduced in an overlay plan, to overlay 813. At the time, overlays were a new concept and since overlays result in mixing area codes within the same area requiring 10-digit dialing, they were often met with public resistance at the time. With this in mind, GTE, the dominant carrier in most of the Tampa Bay Area, switched the proposal to a split plan.
The split largely followed county lines, with the notable exception of Oldsmar, most of which stayed in 813. Oldsmar's trunk is wired into the Tampa line, and it would have been too expensive for GTE to rewire it.
