Phone prefixes in Ayr, ON

In numbers

In-service prefixes

11

Telephone numbers covered

110,000

Carriers

11

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

October 5, 2005

Most recent assignment

November 10, 2021

Ayr’s share of its area codes

Within area code 226, Ayr accounts for only 5 of 778 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by London and spread over 166 rate centres. Within area code 519, Ayr accounts for only 3 of 779 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by London and spread over 210 rate centres. Within area code 548, Ayr accounts for only 3 of 499 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by London and spread over 170 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bell Canada holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 9.1% of the total, ahead of 10 other carriers. Code by code: in 226, Comwave Networks leads with 1 of 5 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 519, Bell Canada leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 548, ISP Telecom Inc. leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Ayr’s 3 area codes, while 11 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

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

How the allocation was built up

Ayr’s dated assignments run from 2005 to 2021. 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 2 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Ayr’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 Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) in 2005. The most recent arrivals are IXICA Communications Inc. (2021), TekSavvy Solutions Inc (2021) and ISP Telecom Inc. (2019), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Ayr.

Ayr 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 Ayr: the leader, Bell Canada, holds only 9.1% of the prefixes against 10 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: 20.0% 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 Ayr number

Ayr is served by 3 overlaid area codes (226, 519 and 548). A 548 number is no more “out of town” than a 226 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Ayr shares area codes 226, 519 and 548 with at least 20 other rate centres, including London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Windsor, Guelph, Brantford, Sarnia, Chatham and Hespeler. The largest of them, London, holds 214 prefixes in 226, 519 and 548; the smallest on the list, Essex, has just 16.

What a Ayr number tells you

A number attached to Ayr tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Ontario, most often Bell Canada. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 11 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 Ayr: code 519-632 is recorded for Bell Canada, so every 519-632-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Ayr, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Ayr prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

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

Elsewhere in Ontario