Phone prefixes in Alfred, ON

In numbers

In-service prefixes

11

Telephone numbers covered

110,000

Carriers

9

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

August 19, 2009

Most recent assignment

June 13, 2022

Alfred’s share of its area codes

Within area code 343, Alfred accounts for only 7 of 641 prefixes (1.1%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 116 rate centres. Within area code 613, Alfred accounts for only 3 of 772 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 132 rate centres. Within area code 753, Alfred accounts for only 1 of 103 prefixes (1.0%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 62 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Videotron Ltd. holds the largest share at 3 prefixes, 27.3% of the total, ahead of 8 other carriers. Code by code: in 343, Videotron Ltd. leads with 1 of 7 prefixes ahead of 6 others; in 613, Videotron Ltd. leads with 2 of 3 prefixes ahead of 1 others; IXICA Communications Inc. is the only holder in 753. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Alfred’s 3 area codes, while 8 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Alfred’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 11 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Videotron Ltd, Bell Canada, Comwave Networks and Distributel. A call showing a Alfred number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Alfred’s dated assignments run from 2009 to 2022. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 4 prefixes went to 4 carriers. 1 prefixes (9%) 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.

Alfred’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Videotron Ltd. in 2009. The most recent arrivals are IXICA Communications Inc. (2022), ISP Telecom Inc. (2021) and Fibernetics Corporation (2020), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Alfred.

Alfred has only 11 prefixes, or 110,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Alfred: the leader, Videotron Ltd., holds only 27.3% of the prefixes against 8 competitors, a sign of a highly fragmented market where cable companies, mobility brands and VoIP providers weigh as much as the incumbent.

Demand remains steady: 30.0% of the dated prefixes go back to the last ten years, the most active period being 2015–2019. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Alfred number

Alfred is served by 3 overlaid area codes (343, 613 and 753). A 753 number is no more “out of town” than a 343 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Alfred shares area codes 343, 613 and 753 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Ottawa-Hull, Kingston, Belleville, Cornwall, Kanata-Stittsville, Brockville, Smiths Falls and Bancroft. The largest of them, Ottawa-Hull, holds 441 prefixes in 343, 613 and 753; the smallest on the list, Merrickville, has just 11.

What a Alfred number tells you

A number attached to Alfred tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Ontario, most often Videotron Ltd.. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 9 carriers present here or to a VoIP service usable anywhere. Nor does it tell you who is calling: caller ID can be spoofed, and an Ontario area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Alfred: code 343-201 is recorded for Videotron Ltd., so every 343-201-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Alfred, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Alfred prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 11 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario