Phone prefixes in Belmont

In numbers

In-service prefixes

15

Telephone numbers covered

150,000

Carriers

12

Area codes

5

Provinces and territories

2

First assignment

October 18, 2005

Most recent assignment

May 19, 2023

Provinces and territories

This name is used for separate rate centres in 2 provinces. The prefixes below share a name in the CNAC register but belong to different communities.

• Ontario — 13 prefixes
• Manitoba — 2 prefixes

Belmont’s share of its area codes

Within area code 226, Belmont accounts for only 7 of 778 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by London and spread over 166 rate centres. Within area code 548, Belmont accounts for only 3 of 499 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by London and spread over 170 rate centres. Within area code 204, Belmont accounts for only 2 of 781 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Winnipeg and spread over 245 rate centres. Within area code 519, Belmont accounts for only 2 of 779 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by London and spread over 210 rate centres. Within area code 382, Belmont accounts for only 1 of 60 prefixes (1.7%): the code is dominated by Kitchener-Waterloo and spread over 38 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Iristel Inc. holds the largest share at 4 prefixes, 26.7% of the total, ahead of 11 other carriers. Code by code: in 226, Iristel Inc. leads with 3 of 7 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 548, Iristel Inc. leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 204, MTS Inc. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 519, Bell Canada leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; IXICA Communications Inc. is the only holder in 382. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Belmont’s 5 area codes, while 11 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Belmont’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 15 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Iristel Inc, Bell Canada, Distributel and Execulink Telecom Inc. A call showing a Belmont number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Belmont’s dated assignments run from 2005 to 2023. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 5 prefixes went to 3 carriers. 2 prefixes (13%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 5 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Belmont’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada and MTS Inc: these carriers 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 ISP Telecom Inc. (2023), IXICA Communications Inc. (2023) and TekSavvy Solutions Inc (2021), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Belmont.

Belmont has only 15 prefixes, or 150,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Belmont: the leader, Iristel Inc., holds only 26.7% 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.

Demand remains steady: 38.5% 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.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Belmont number

Belmont is served by 5 overlaid area codes (226, 548, 204, 519 and 382). A 382 number is no more “out of town” than a 226 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Belmont shares area codes 226, 548, 204, 519 and 382 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Winnipeg, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Windsor, Guelph, Brantford, Chatham and Sarnia. The largest of them, Winnipeg, holds 241 prefixes in 204; the smallest on the list, Mount Forest, has just 20.

What a Belmont number tells you

A number attached to Belmont tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Ontario, most often Iristel Inc.. 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 an Ontario area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Belmont: code 226-406 is recorded for Iristel Inc., so every 226-406-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Belmont, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Belmont prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 15 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario