Phone prefixes in Buckhorn, ON

In numbers

In-service prefixes

7

Telephone numbers covered

70,000

Carriers

7

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

August 19, 2009

Most recent assignment

January 5, 2026

Buckhorn’s share of its area codes

Within area code 249, Buckhorn accounts for only 3 of 585 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by Sudbury and spread over 176 rate centres. Within area code 705, Buckhorn accounts for only 3 of 770 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Barrie and spread over 203 rate centres. Within area code 683, Buckhorn accounts for only 1 of 80 prefixes (1.3%): the code is dominated by Lindsay and spread over 57 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bell Canada holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 14.3% of the total, ahead of 6 other carriers. Code by code: in 249, Fibernetics Corporation leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 705, Bell Canada leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others; Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) is the only holder in 683. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Buckhorn’s 3 area codes, while 7 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Buckhorn’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 7 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Bell Canada, Bragg Communications Inc, Fibernetics Corporation and ISP Telecom Inc. A call showing a Buckhorn number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Buckhorn’s dated assignments run from 2009 to 2026. The busiest period was 2020–2024, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 1 prefixes (14%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 3 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Buckhorn’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 Nexicom Telecommunications Inc in 2009. The most recent arrivals are Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) (2026), ISP Telecom Inc. (2022) and Fibernetics Corporation (2020), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Buckhorn.

Buckhorn has just 7 prefixes (70,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Buckhorn: the leader, Bell Canada, holds only 14.3% of the prefixes against 6 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. Buckhorn is among the rate centres where demand for numbers is still rising quickly.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Buckhorn number

Buckhorn is served by 3 overlaid area codes (249, 705 and 683). A 683 number is no more “out of town” than a 249 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Buckhorn shares area codes 249, 705 and 683 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Barrie, Sudbury, Peterborough, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay, Huntsville, Lindsay and Collingwood. The largest of them, Barrie, holds 95 prefixes in 249, 683 and 705; the smallest on the list, Kapuskasing, has just 12.

What a Buckhorn number tells you

A number attached to Buckhorn 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 7 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 Buckhorn: code 705-657 is recorded for Bell Canada, so every 705-657-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Buckhorn, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Buckhorn prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 7 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario