Phone prefixes in Charny, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

9

Telephone numbers covered

90,000

Carriers

5

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

December 30, 2004

Most recent assignment

July 11, 2023

Charny’s share of its area codes

Within area code 418, Charny accounts for only 4 of 777 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by Quebec and spread over 258 rate centres. Within area code 581, Charny accounts for only 3 of 778 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Quebec and spread over 232 rate centres. Within area code 367, Charny accounts for only 2 of 232 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Quebec and spread over 110 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS Quebec holds the largest share at 3 prefixes, 33.3% of the total, ahead of 4 other carriers. Code by code: in 418, Videotron Ltd. leads with 2 of 4 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 581, TELUS Quebec leads with 2 of 3 prefixes ahead of 1 others; Fibernetics Corporation is the only holder in 367. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Charny’s 3 area codes, while 4 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Charny’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 9 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them TELUS Quebec, Fibernetics Corporation, Videotron Ltd and Bell Canada. A call showing a Charny number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Charny’s dated assignments run from 2004 to 2023. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 1 prefixes (11%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 2 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Charny’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 2004. The most recent arrivals are Fibernetics Corporation (2021), Distributel (2018) and TELUS Quebec (2007), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Charny.

Charny has just 9 prefixes (90,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Charny: the leader, TELUS Quebec, holds only 33.3% of the prefixes against 4 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: 25.0% 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.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Charny number

Charny is served by 3 overlaid area codes (418, 581 and 367). A 367 number is no more “out of town” than a 418 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Charny shares area codes 418, 581 and 367 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Quebec, Chicoutimi, Alma, Rimouski, Riviere-du-Loup, Thetford Mines, Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce and Levis. The largest of them, Quebec, holds 282 prefixes in 367, 418 and 581; the smallest on the list, Saint-Henri-de-Levis, has just 16.

What a Charny number tells you

A number attached to Charny 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 5 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 Charny: code 418-488 is recorded for TELUS Quebec, so every 418-488-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Charny, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Charny prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 9 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Quebec