Phone prefixes in Aberdeen, SK

In numbers

In-service prefixes

6

Telephone numbers covered

60,000

Carriers

5

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

July 7, 2016

Most recent assignment

February 9, 2023

Aberdeen’s share of its area codes

Within area code 639, Aberdeen accounts for only 4 of 776 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by Regina and spread over 202 rate centres. Within area code 306, Aberdeen accounts for only 1 of 777 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Saskatoon and spread over 228 rate centres. Within area code 474, Aberdeen accounts for only 1 of 88 prefixes (1.1%): the code is dominated by Saskatoon and spread over 70 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Distributel holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 33.3% of the total, ahead of 4 other carriers. Code by code: in 639, Distributel leads with 2 of 4 prefixes ahead of 2 others; SaskTel is the only holder in 306; Fibernetics Corporation is the only holder in 474. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Aberdeen’s 3 area codes, while 5 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Aberdeen’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 6 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Distributel, Access Communications Co-operative Limited, Fibernetics Corporation and ISP Telecom Inc. A call showing a Aberdeen number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Aberdeen’s dated assignments run from 2016 to 2023. The busiest period was 2020–2024, when 3 prefixes went to 3 carriers. 1 prefixes (17%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 3 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Aberdeen’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to SaskTel: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Distributel in 2016. The most recent arrivals are Access Communications Co-operative Limited (2023), Fibernetics Corporation (2023) and ISP Telecom Inc. (2022), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Aberdeen.

Aberdeen has just 6 prefixes (60,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Aberdeen: the leader, Distributel, holds only 33.3% of the prefixes against 4 competitors, a sign of a highly fragmented market where cable companies, mobility brands and VoIP providers weigh as much as the incumbent.

Growth is recent: 60.0% of the dated prefixes were assigned in the last ten years, peaking in 2020–2024. Aberdeen is among the rate centres where demand for numbers is still rising quickly.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Aberdeen number

Aberdeen is served by 3 overlaid area codes (639, 306 and 474). A 474 number is no more “out of town” than a 639 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Aberdeen shares area codes 639, 306 and 474 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Regina, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, North Battleford, Yorkton, Swift Current and Moosomin. The largest of them, Regina, holds 161 prefixes in 306, 474 and 639; the smallest on the list, Watrous, has just 14.

What a Aberdeen number tells you

A number attached to Aberdeen tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Saskatchewan, most often Distributel. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 5 carriers present here or to a VoIP service usable anywhere. Nor does it tell you who is calling: caller ID can be spoofed, and a Saskatchewan area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Aberdeen: code 639-319 is recorded for Distributel, so every 639-319-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Aberdeen, Saskatchewan” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Aberdeen prefix

Each row is an in-service central-office code recorded for Aberdeen, with its original holder and year of assignment.

Allocated prefixes

All 6 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Saskatchewan