Phone prefixes in Amherst, NS

In numbers

In-service prefixes

27

Telephone numbers covered

270,000

Carriers

12

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

March 14, 2001

Most recent assignment

June 14, 2024

Amherst’s share of its area codes

Within area code 902, Amherst accounts for only 17 of 782 prefixes (2.2%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 175 rate centres. Within area code 782, Amherst accounts for only 10 of 456 prefixes (2.2%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 142 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) holds the largest share at 6 prefixes, 22.2% of the total, ahead of 11 other carriers. Code by code: in 902, Aliant Telecom (NS) leads with 4 of 17 prefixes ahead of 9 others; in 782, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) leads with 5 of 10 prefixes ahead of 4 others. 3 carriers hold prefixes in every one of Amherst’s 2 area codes, while 9 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

11 of Amherst’s 27 prefixes (40.7%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless), Bell Mobility Aliant, TELUS Mobility and Fido Solutions Inc. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Aliant Telecom (NS), Iristel Inc, Bragg Communications Inc and Fibernetics Corporation. This is a sort by name, not a licence lookup, and a mobile prefix may have been ported to another network since.

How the allocation was built up

Amherst’s dated assignments run from 2001 to 2024. The busiest period was 2020–2024, when 11 prefixes went to 6 carriers. 5 prefixes (19%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 11 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Amherst’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Aliant Telecom (NS), Bell Mobility Aliant and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless): these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Bragg Communications Inc. in 2001. The most recent arrivals are ISP Telecom Inc. (2021), Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) (2020) and IXICA Communications Inc. (2020), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Amherst.

Amherst has only 27 prefixes, or 270,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Amherst: the leader, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless), holds only 22.2% of the prefixes against 11 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: 50.0% of the dated prefixes were assigned in the last ten years, peaking in 2020–2024. Amherst is among the rate centres where demand for numbers is still rising quickly.

5 undated in the register.

Dialling a Amherst number

Amherst is served by 2 overlaid area codes (902 and 782). A 782 number is no more “out of town” than a 902 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Amherst shares area codes 902 and 782 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Halifax, Charlottetown, Sydney, Truro, New Glasgow, Kentville, Summerside and Windsor. The largest of them, Halifax, holds 220 prefixes in 782 and 902; the smallest on the list, Port Hawkesbury, has just 12.

What a Amherst number tells you

A number attached to Amherst tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Nova Scotia, most often Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless). It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 12 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 Nova Scotia area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Amherst: code 902-669 is recorded for Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless), so every 902-669-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Amherst, Nova Scotia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Amherst prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 27 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Nova Scotia