Phone prefixes in Cumberland

In numbers

In-service prefixes

15

Telephone numbers covered

150,000

Carriers

12

Area codes

5

Provinces and territories

2

First assignment

October 25, 2005

Most recent assignment

June 14, 2022

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.

• Ontario — 11 prefixes
• British Columbia — 4 prefixes

Cumberland’s share of its area codes

Within area code 343, Cumberland accounts for only 5 of 641 prefixes (0.8%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 116 rate centres. Within area code 613, Cumberland accounts for only 5 of 772 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 132 rate centres. Within area code 236, Cumberland accounts for only 2 of 730 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres. Within area code 250, Cumberland accounts for only 2 of 781 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Victoria and spread over 268 rate centres. Within area code 753, Cumberland accounts for only 1 of 103 prefixes (1.0%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 62 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

ISP Telecom Inc. holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 13.3% of the total, ahead of 11 other carriers. Code by code: in 343, IXICA Communications Inc. leads with 1 of 5 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 613, ISP Telecom Inc. leads with 2 of 5 prefixes ahead of 3 others; in 236, Videotron Ltd. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 250, Shaw Telecom Inc. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; IXICA Communications Inc. is the only holder in 753. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Cumberland’s 5 area codes, while 10 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Cumberland’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 15 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them ISP Telecom Inc, IXICA Communications Inc, Videotron Ltd and Bell Canada. A call showing a Cumberland number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Cumberland’s dated assignments run from 2005 to 2022. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 6 prefixes went to 6 carriers. 2 prefixes (13%) 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.

Cumberland’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada and TELUS: these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) in 2005. The most recent arrivals are Fibernetics Corporation (2020), IXICA Communications Inc. (2018) and TELUS Integrated Communications (2017), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Cumberland.

Cumberland has only 15 prefixes, or 150,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Cumberland: the leader, ISP Telecom Inc., holds only 13.3% of the prefixes against 11 competitors, a sign of a highly fragmented market where cable companies, mobility brands and VoIP providers weigh as much as the incumbent.

Allocation is mature: only 15.4% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2015–2019, and 2 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Cumberland numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Cumberland number

Cumberland is served by 5 overlaid area codes (343, 613, 236, 250 and 753). A 753 number is no more “out of town” than a 343 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Cumberland shares area codes 343, 613, 236, 250 and 753 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Ottawa-Hull, Vancouver, Victoria, Kingston, Belleville, Kelowna, Cornwall and Kanata-Stittsville. The largest of them, Ottawa-Hull, holds 441 prefixes in 343, 613 and 753; the smallest on the list, Richmond, has just 19.

What a Cumberland number tells you

A number attached to Cumberland tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Ontario, most often ISP Telecom Inc.. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 12 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 Ontario area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Cumberland: code 613-467 is recorded for ISP Telecom Inc., so every 613-467-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Cumberland, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Cumberland prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 15 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario