Phone prefixes in Exshaw, AB

In numbers

In-service prefixes

5

Telephone numbers covered

50,000

Carriers

5

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

May 27, 2008

Most recent assignment

February 14, 2023

Exshaw’s share of its area codes

Within area code 403, Exshaw accounts for only 2 of 781 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 142 rate centres. Within area code 587, Exshaw accounts for only 2 of 779 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 137 rate centres. Within area code 825, Exshaw accounts for only 1 of 769 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 301 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Distributel holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 20.0% of the total, ahead of 4 other carriers. Code by code: in 403, Shaw Telecom Inc. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 587, Distributel leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; Fibernetics Corporation is the only holder in 825. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Exshaw’s 3 area codes, while 5 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

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

How the allocation was built up

Exshaw’s dated assignments run from 2008 to 2023. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 1 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 1 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Exshaw’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to TELUS: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Shaw Telecom Inc. in 2008. The most recent arrivals are Fibernetics Corporation (2023), IXICA Communications Inc. (2018) and Distributel (2016), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Exshaw.

Exshaw 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 Exshaw: the leader, Distributel, 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.

Demand remains steady: 25.0% 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.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Exshaw number

Exshaw is served by 3 overlaid area codes (403, 587 and 825). A 825 number is no more “out of town” than a 403 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Exshaw shares area codes 403, 587 and 825 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Fort McMurray, High River and Banff. The largest of them, Calgary, holds 711 prefixes in 403, 587 and 825; the smallest on the list, Stettler, has just 15.

What a Exshaw number tells you

A number attached to Exshaw tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Alberta, most often Distributel. 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 Alberta area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Exshaw: code 587-519 is recorded for Distributel, so every 587-519-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Exshaw, Alberta” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Exshaw prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

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

Elsewhere in Alberta