Phone prefixes in Bridgewater, NS

In numbers

In-service prefixes

22

Telephone numbers covered

220,000

Carriers

12

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

August 19, 1999

Most recent assignment

June 20, 2024

Bridgewater’s share of its area codes

Within area code 902, Bridgewater accounts for only 18 of 782 prefixes (2.3%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 175 rate centres. Within area code 782, Bridgewater accounts for only 4 of 456 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 142 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Aliant Telecom (NS) holds the largest share at 4 prefixes, 18.2% of the total, ahead of 11 other carriers. Code by code: in 902, Aliant Telecom (NS) leads with 4 of 18 prefixes ahead of 9 others; in 782, Fibernetics Corporation leads with 2 of 4 prefixes ahead of 2 others. 1 carrier holds prefixes in every one of Bridgewater’s 2 area codes, while 11 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

7 of Bridgewater’s 22 prefixes (31.8%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility Aliant, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless), Fido Solutions Inc and TELUS Mobility. 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

Bridgewater’s dated assignments run from 1999 to 2024. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 5 prefixes went to 4 carriers. 5 prefixes (23%) 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.

Bridgewater’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Aliant Telecom (NS), Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) and Bell Mobility Aliant: these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) in 1999. The most recent arrivals are ISP Telecom Inc. (2021), IXICA Communications Inc. (2020) and Fibernetics Corporation (2020), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Bridgewater.

Bridgewater has only 22 prefixes, or 220,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Bridgewater: the leader, Aliant Telecom (NS), holds only 18.2% 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.

Demand remains steady: 29.4% 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.

5 undated in the register.

Dialling a Bridgewater number

Bridgewater 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

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

What a Bridgewater number tells you

A number attached to Bridgewater tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Nova Scotia, most often Aliant Telecom (NS). 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 Bridgewater: code 902-212 is recorded for Aliant Telecom (NS), so every 902-212-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Bridgewater, Nova Scotia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Bridgewater prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 22 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Nova Scotia