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Pacific Bell is AT&T's local phone company in California.

Pacific Bell was the Bell phone company for California. SBC bought its parent company, Pacific Telesis, in 1997 and took the AT&T name in 2005, so Pacific Bell is AT&T's local phone company in California today. NANPA, which runs the North American numbering plan, lists Pacific Bell as the holder of 4,958 prefixes, all in California.

Name in NANPA's file
PACIFIC BELL, and 1 other listing
What it is
AT&T's landline company
Prefixes held
4,958 of 198,436 (2.5%)
States and territories
California
Area codes
30
Pooled prefixes
43%, shared in blocks of 1,000 numbers

From NANPA's central office code file of October 1, 2026. A prefix is the three digits after the area code.

You can check which carrier a number is on today, for free.

Enter the full number to see its carrier now, which may not be Pacific Bell if the number was ported. It is the same free check as our carrier lookup. To see whether it is a mobile, landline or VoIP line, use the line type lookup, and to see who it is listed to, the who called me lookup.

A lookup shows Pacific Bell when the number is a line on AT&T's local phone network.

These are landlines and business lines that AT&T runs under the Pacific Bell name in that area, which is why the lookup does not just say AT&T.

Numbers can also move between carriers, so a lookup reads the number's carrier today, and a number with a Pacific Bell prefix can show another company if it was ported.

All 4,958 prefixes Pacific Bell holds are in California.

Pacific Bell prefixes by state

Pacific Bell holds prefixes in 30 area codes, and these are its largest.

Pacific Bell holds 137 prefixes in area code 213, downtown Los Angeles.

A call from a Pacific Bell number is not spam just because of the carrier.

Pacific Bell lines belong to homes, offices and public services, so the carrier name says nothing about who is calling.

Caller ID can also be faked, so judge the call by what the caller asks for, never by the carrier name.

Check the full number with our free spam phone checker before you call back.

You can read about 5 more carrier names here.

See every carrier name we explain

These are the questions people ask about Pacific Bell.

What is Pacific Bell?

Pacific Bell was the Bell phone company for California. SBC bought its parent company, Pacific Telesis, in 1997 and took the AT&T name in 2005, so Pacific Bell is AT&T's local phone company in California today.

Why does a phone lookup say Pacific Bell?

A lookup shows Pacific Bell when the number is a line on AT&T's local phone network. These are landlines and business lines that AT&T runs under the Pacific Bell name in that area, which is why the lookup does not just say AT&T. Numbers can also move between carriers, so a lookup reads the number's carrier today, and a number with a Pacific Bell prefix can show another company if it was ported.

Is a call from a Pacific Bell number spam?

Pacific Bell lines belong to homes, offices and public services, so the carrier name says nothing about who is calling. Caller ID can also be faked, so judge the call by what the caller asks for, never by the carrier name. Check the full number with our free spam phone checker before you call back.

How many phone prefixes does Pacific Bell hold?

NANPA lists Pacific Bell as the holder of 4,958 prefixes, 2.5% of all assigned US prefixes. A prefix is the three digits after the area code and covers up to 10,000 numbers. 43% of these are pooled, so blocks of 1,000 numbers inside them can belong to other carriers.

Which states have the most Pacific Bell prefixes?

All 4,958 prefixes Pacific Bell holds in NANPA's file are in California.

Can I find out who owns a Pacific Bell number?

Pacific Bell does not publish who uses its numbers. Our free who called me lookup shows who a US number is listed to and the city and state on the listing, when the number has a listing.

Source: NANPA, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator: its central office code assignments, as of October 1, 2026. Company histories are from public records and each company's own descriptions.