Phone prefixes in Buckingham, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

15

Telephone numbers covered

150,000

Carriers

8

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

November 25, 2003

Most recent assignment

May 8, 2024

Buckingham’s share of its area codes

Within area code 873, Buckingham accounts for only 11 of 667 prefixes (1.6%): the code is dominated by Sherbrooke and spread over 162 rate centres. Within area code 819, Buckingham accounts for only 4 of 770 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 211 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Iristel Inc. holds the largest share at 5 prefixes, 33.3% of the total, ahead of 7 other carriers. Code by code: in 873, Iristel Inc. leads with 5 of 11 prefixes ahead of 5 others; in 819, Bell Canada leads with 2 of 4 prefixes ahead of 1 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Buckingham’s 2 area codes, while 8 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Buckingham’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, Fibernetics Corporation and Videotron Ltd. A call showing a Buckingham number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Buckingham’s dated assignments run from 2003 to 2024. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 6 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 4 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Buckingham’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 Videotron Ltd. in 2003. The most recent arrivals are ISP Telecom Inc. (2021), Fibernetics Corporation (2020) and Distributel (2018), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Buckingham.

Buckingham 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 Buckingham: the leader, Iristel Inc., holds only 33.3% of the prefixes against 7 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: 30.8% 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 Buckingham number

Buckingham is served by 2 overlaid area codes (873 and 819). A 819 number is no more “out of town” than a 873 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Buckingham shares area codes 873 and 819 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Ottawa-Hull, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivieres, Drummondville, Gatineau, Victoriaville, Val-D'Or and Maniwaki. The largest of them, Ottawa-Hull, holds 119 prefixes in 819 and 873; the smallest on the list, Plessisville, has just 11.

What a Buckingham number tells you

A number attached to Buckingham tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Quebec, 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 8 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 Quebec area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Buckingham: code 873-738 is recorded for Iristel Inc., so every 873-738-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Buckingham, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Buckingham prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

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

Elsewhere in Quebec