Phone prefixes in Elgin

In numbers

In-service prefixes

5

Telephone numbers covered

50,000

Carriers

5

Area codes

4

Provinces and territories

2

First assignment

November 28, 2017

Most recent assignment

August 8, 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 — 4 prefixes
• Manitoba — 1 prefixes

Elgin’s share of its area codes

Within area code 343, Elgin accounts for only 2 of 641 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 116 rate centres. Within area code 204, Elgin accounts for only 1 of 781 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Winnipeg and spread over 245 rate centres. Within area code 613, Elgin accounts for only 1 of 772 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 132 rate centres. Within area code 753, Elgin 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

Bell Canada holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 20.0% of the total, ahead of 4 other carriers. Code by code: in 343, TELUS Integrated Communications leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; MTS Inc. is the only holder in 204; Bell Canada is the only holder in 613; Fibernetics Corporation is the only holder in 753. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Elgin’s 4 area codes, while 5 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Elgin’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 5 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Bell Canada, Fibernetics Corporation, MTS Inc and TELUS Integrated Communications. A call showing a Elgin number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Elgin’s dated assignments run from 2017 to 2022. The busiest period was 2020–2024, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 2 prefixes (40%) 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.

Elgin’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada and MTS Inc: these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to TELUS Integrated Communications in 2017. The most recent arrivals are Fibernetics Corporation (2022), Westport Telephone Company Limited (2020) and TELUS Integrated Communications (2017), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Elgin.

Elgin has just 5 prefixes (50,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Elgin: the leader, Bell Canada, holds only 20.0% 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.

Growth is recent: 66.7% of the dated prefixes were assigned in the last ten years, peaking in 2020–2024. Elgin is among the rate centres where demand for numbers is still rising quickly.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Elgin number

Elgin is served by 4 overlaid area codes (343, 204, 613 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

Elgin shares area codes 343, 204, 613 and 753 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Ottawa-Hull, Winnipeg, Kingston, Belleville, Cornwall, Kanata-Stittsville, Brockville and Brandon. The largest of them, Ottawa-Hull, holds 441 prefixes in 343, 613 and 753; the smallest on the list, Trenton, has just 14.

What a Elgin number tells you

A number attached to Elgin tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Ontario, most often Bell Canada. 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 an Ontario area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Elgin: code 613-359 is recorded for Bell Canada, so every 613-359-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Elgin, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Elgin prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 5 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario