Phone prefixes in Cochrane

In numbers

In-service prefixes

20

Telephone numbers covered

200,000

Carriers

11

Area codes

5

Provinces and territories

2

First assignment

June 13, 2003

Most recent assignment

March 16, 2026

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.

• Alberta — 15 prefixes
• Ontario — 5 prefixes

Cochrane’s share of its area codes

Within area code 403, Cochrane accounts for only 7 of 781 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 142 rate centres. Within area code 587, Cochrane accounts for only 5 of 779 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 137 rate centres. Within area code 705, Cochrane accounts for only 3 of 770 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Barrie and spread over 203 rate centres. Within area code 825, Cochrane accounts for only 3 of 769 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 301 rate centres. Within area code 249, Cochrane accounts for only 2 of 585 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Sudbury and spread over 176 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds the largest share at 4 prefixes, 20.0% of the total, ahead of 10 other carriers. Code by code: in 403, TELUS leads with 2 of 7 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 587, TELUS leads with 2 of 5 prefixes ahead of 3 others; in 705, CochraneTel leads with 2 of 3 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 825, Fibernetics Corporation leads with 2 of 3 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 249, Bragg Communications Inc. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Cochrane’s 5 area codes, while 7 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

1 of Cochrane’s 20 prefixes (5.0%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by TELUS, Shaw Telecom Inc, Bragg Communications Inc and CochraneTel. 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

Cochrane’s dated assignments run from 2003 to 2026. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 4 prefixes went to 4 carriers. 4 prefixes (20%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 5 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Cochrane’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to TELUS, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) and CochraneTel: these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to CochraneTel in 2003. The most recent arrivals are ISP Telecom Inc. (2021), Fibernetics Corporation (2020) and Bell Mobility (2020), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Cochrane.

Cochrane 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 Cochrane: the leader, TELUS, holds only 20.0% 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: 31.3% 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.

4 undated in the register.

Dialling a Cochrane number

Cochrane is served by 5 overlaid area codes (403, 587, 705, 825 and 249). A 249 number is no more “out of town” than a 403 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Cochrane shares area codes 403, 587, 705, 825 and 249 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Calgary, Edmonton, Barrie, Sudbury, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Peterborough and Sault Ste. Marie. The largest of them, Calgary, holds 711 prefixes in 403, 587 and 825; the smallest on the list, Airdrie, has just 23.

What a Cochrane number tells you

A number attached to Cochrane 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 Cochrane: code 403-851 is recorded for TELUS, so every 403-851-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Cochrane, Alberta” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Cochrane prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

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

Elsewhere in Alberta