Phone prefixes in Bell Island, NL

In numbers

In-service prefixes

3

Telephone numbers covered

30,000

Carriers

3

Area codes

1

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

July 19, 2013

Most recent assignment

December 22, 2022

Bell Island’s share of its area code

Within area code 709, Bell Island accounts for only 3 of 631 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by St. John's and spread over 209 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Aliant Telecom (NF) holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 33.3% of the total, ahead of 2 other carriers. Code by code: in 709, Aliant Telecom (NF) leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others.

Wireless and wireline

None of Bell Island’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 3 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Aliant Telecom (NF), Bragg Communications Inc and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable). A call showing a Bell Island number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Bell Island’s dated assignments run from 2013 to 2022. The busiest period was 2010–2014, when 1 prefixes went to 1 carrier. 1 prefixes (33%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 1 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Bell Island’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Aliant Telecom (NF): this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Bragg Communications Inc. in 2013. The most recent arrivals are Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) (2022) and Bragg Communications Inc. (2013), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Bell Island.

Bell Island has just 3 prefixes (30,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Bell Island: the leader, Aliant Telecom (NF), holds only 33.3% of the prefixes against 2 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 2010–2014. Bell Island is among the rate centres where demand for numbers is still rising quickly.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Bell Island number

A single area code, 709, covers Bell Island, and it is not overlaid with any other code on this territory: one of the few parts of Canada where seven-digit local dialling may still work. From abroad, dial +1 709 and the seven-digit number.

The numbering neighbourhood

Bell Island shares area code 709 with at least 20 other rate centres, including St. John's, Corner Brook, Clarenville, Carbonear, Gander, Marystown, Bay Roberts and Labrador City - Wabush. The largest of them, St. John's, holds 100 prefixes in 709; the smallest on the list, Glovertown, has just 5.

What a Bell Island number tells you

A number attached to Bell Island tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Newfoundland and Labrador, most often Aliant Telecom (NF). It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 3 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 Newfoundland and Labrador area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Bell Island: code 709-488 is recorded for Aliant Telecom (NF), so every 709-488-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Bell Island, Newfoundland and Labrador” there names a rate centre, not a municipality.

Every Bell Island prefix

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

Had a call from a Bell Island number?

No clear pattern in reports on these numbers yet. If a call worried you:

1. Call back on a number you trust

   If a caller says they are your bank, the Canada Revenue Agency, a courier or your phone company, hang up and call the organization on the number from its website or your statement, never the number that called you. Caller ID can be faked.

2. Report the fraud

   Report the call or text to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online or at 1-888-495-8501. If you lost money or gave out personal details, tell your bank first, then your local police.

   Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre ↗

3. Register on the National Do Not Call List

   Registering a landline or mobile on the National DNCL is free. Registered charities, political parties, newspapers and companies you already do business with may still call.

   National Do Not Call List ↗Who can still call you ↗

4. Forward suspicious texts to 7726

   Forward a scam or spam text to 7726 (SPAM on the keypad). It's free, and your carrier uses it to block the sender. Don't tap links or reply.

   Get Cyber Safe: forwarding to 7726 ↗

Allocated prefixes

All 3 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Newfoundland and Labrador