Phone prefixes in Causapscal, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

3

Telephone numbers covered

30,000

Carriers

2

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

August 22, 2013

Most recent assignment

March 2, 2021

Causapscal’s share of its area codes

Within area code 581, Causapscal accounts for only 2 of 778 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Quebec and spread over 232 rate centres. Within area code 418, Causapscal accounts for only 1 of 777 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Quebec and spread over 258 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS Quebec holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 66.7% of the total, ahead of 1 other carrier. Code by code: in 581, TELUS Quebec leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; TELUS Quebec is the only holder in 418. 1 carrier holds prefixes in every one of Causapscal’s 2 area codes, while 1 appears in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Causapscal’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 3 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them TELUS Quebec and Telecommunications Xittel Inc. A call showing a Causapscal number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Causapscal’s dated assignments run from 2013 to 2021. The busiest period was 2010–2014, when 1 prefixes went to 1 carrier. 1 prefixes (33%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 1 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Causapscal’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to TELUS Quebec: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Telecommunications Xittel Inc in 2013. The most recent arrivals are TELUS Quebec (2021) and Telecommunications Xittel Inc (2013), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Causapscal.

Causapscal has just 3 prefixes (30,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

TELUS Quebec leads with 66.7% of the prefixes, but 1 competitors have set up in Causapscal: a market where the incumbent keeps the edge without exclusivity.

Growth is recent: 50.0% of the dated prefixes were assigned in the last ten years, peaking in 2010–2014. Causapscal is among the rate centres where demand for numbers is still rising quickly.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Causapscal number

Causapscal is served by 2 overlaid area codes (581 and 418). A 418 number is no more “out of town” than a 581 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Causapscal shares area codes 581 and 418 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Quebec, Chicoutimi, Rimouski, Alma, Riviere-du-Loup, Thetford Mines, Levis and Saint-Georges-de-Beauce. The largest of them, Quebec, holds 245 prefixes in 418 and 581; the smallest on the list, Chibougamau, has just 11.

What a Causapscal number tells you

A number attached to Causapscal tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Quebec, most often TELUS Quebec. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 2 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 Causapscal: code 581-921 is recorded for TELUS Quebec, so every 581-921-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Causapscal, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Causapscal prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 3 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Quebec