Phone prefixes in Camrose, AB

In numbers

In-service prefixes

20

Telephone numbers covered

200,000

Carriers

11

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

July 4, 2001

Most recent assignment

May 13, 2024

Camrose’s share of its area codes

Within area code 780, Camrose accounts for only 9 of 780 prefixes (1.2%): the code is dominated by Edmonton and spread over 195 rate centres. Within area code 587, Camrose accounts for only 7 of 779 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 137 rate centres. Within area code 825, Camrose accounts for only 4 of 769 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 301 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds the largest share at 7 prefixes, 35.0% of the total, ahead of 10 other carriers. Code by code: in 780, TELUS leads with 5 of 9 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 587, TELUS leads with 1 of 7 prefixes ahead of 6 others; in 825, Videotron Ltd. leads with 2 of 4 prefixes ahead of 2 others. 1 carrier holds prefixes in every one of Camrose’s 3 area codes, while 8 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

5 of Camrose’s 20 prefixes (25.0%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: TELUS Mobility, Bell Mobility, Fido Solutions Inc and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless). Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by TELUS, Iristel Inc, Videotron Ltd and Bell West Inc. 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

Camrose’s dated assignments run from 2001 to 2024. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 4 prefixes went to 4 carriers. 3 prefixes (15%) 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.

Camrose’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to TELUS: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to TELUS in 2001. The most recent arrivals are Videotron Ltd. (2024), Iristel Inc. (2016) and Bragg Communications Inc. (2016), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Camrose.

Camrose has only 20 prefixes, or 200,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Camrose: the leader, TELUS, holds only 35.0% of the prefixes against 10 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: 23.5% of the dated prefixes go back to the last ten years, the most active period being 2005–2009. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

The register also shows 2 prefixes assigned but not yet in service in Camrose (Fibernetics Corporation and TELUS Mobility): numbers that will start showing up on call displays in the coming months.

3 undated in the register.

Dialling a Camrose number

Camrose is served by 3 overlaid area codes (780, 587 and 825). A 825 number is no more “out of town” than a 780 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Camrose shares area codes 780, 587 and 825 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Sherwood Park and Peace River. The largest of them, Edmonton, holds 489 prefixes in 587, 780 and 825; the smallest on the list, Vegreville, has just 16.

What a Camrose number tells you

A number attached to Camrose tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Alberta, most often TELUS. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 11 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 Alberta area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Camrose: code 780-608 is recorded for TELUS, so every 780-608-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Camrose, Alberta” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Camrose prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 20 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Alberta