Phone prefixes in Chelsea

In numbers

In-service prefixes

12

Telephone numbers covered

120,000

Carriers

9

Area codes

4

Provinces and territories

2

First assignment

December 30, 2004

Most recent assignment

June 1, 2021

Provinces and territories

This name is used for separate rate centres in 2 provinces. The prefixes below share a name in the CNAC register but belong to different communities.

• Quebec — 8 prefixes
• Nova Scotia — 4 prefixes

Chelsea’s share of its area codes

Within area code 819, Chelsea accounts for only 4 of 770 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 211 rate centres. Within area code 873, Chelsea accounts for only 4 of 667 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by Sherbrooke and spread over 162 rate centres. Within area code 782, Chelsea accounts for only 3 of 460 prefixes (0.7%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 142 rate centres. Within area code 902, Chelsea accounts for only 1 of 782 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 175 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Distributel holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 16.7% of the total, ahead of 8 other carriers. Code by code: in 819, Videotron Ltd. leads with 2 of 4 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 873, Distributel leads with 1 of 4 prefixes ahead of 3 others; in 782, Distributel leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others; Aliant Telecom (NS) is the only holder in 902. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Chelsea’s 4 area codes, while 7 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Chelsea’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 12 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Distributel, Fibernetics Corporation, Videotron Ltd and Aliant Telecom (NS). A call showing a Chelsea number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Chelsea’s dated assignments run from 2004 to 2021. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 4 prefixes went to 3 carriers. 2 prefixes (17%) 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.

Chelsea’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Aliant Telecom (NS) and Bell Canada: these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Videotron Ltd. in 2004. The most recent arrivals are Fibernetics Corporation (2020), ISP Telecom Inc. (2020) and Bragg Communications Inc. (2019), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Chelsea.

Chelsea has only 12 prefixes, or 120,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Chelsea: the leader, Distributel, holds only 16.7% of the prefixes against 8 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: 30.0% 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 Chelsea number

Chelsea is served by 4 overlaid area codes (819, 873, 782 and 902). A 902 number is no more “out of town” than a 819 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Chelsea shares area codes 819, 873, 782 and 902 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Halifax, Ottawa-Hull, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivieres, Charlottetown, Drummondville, Sydney and Windsor. The largest of them, Halifax, holds 220 prefixes in 782 and 902; the smallest on the list, Amos, has just 22.

What a Chelsea number tells you

A number attached to Chelsea tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Quebec, most often Distributel. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 9 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 Chelsea: code 873-415 is recorded for Distributel, so every 873-415-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Chelsea, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Chelsea prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 12 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Quebec