Phone prefixes in Fermont, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

3

Telephone numbers covered

30,000

Carriers

3

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

October 21, 2011

Most recent assignment

February 9, 2012

Fermont’s share of its area codes

Within area code 581, Fermont accounts for only 2 of 778 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Quebec and spread over 232 rate centres. Within area code 418, Fermont accounts for only 1 of 777 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Quebec and spread over 258 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bell Mobility holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 33.3% of the total, ahead of 2 other carriers. Code by code: in 581, Bell Mobility leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; Telebec Ltee. is the only holder in 418. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Fermont’s 2 area codes, while 3 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

2 of Fermont’s 3 prefixes (66.7%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility and TELUS Mobility. That makes this a mostly mobile rate centre, which is typical of recent allocations: new prefixes go overwhelmingly to cellphones. 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

Fermont’s dated assignments run from 2011 to 2012. The busiest period was 2010–2014, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 1 prefixes (33%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. No prefix has been added since 2020: demand for numbers in Fermont is flat.

Fermont’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Telebec Ltee: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to TELUS Mobility in 2011. The most recent arrivals are Bell Mobility (2012) and TELUS Mobility (2011), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Fermont.

Fermont has just 3 prefixes (30,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Fermont: the leader, Bell Mobility, holds only 33.3% of the prefixes against 2 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 0.0% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2010–2014, and 1 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Fermont numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

Dialling a Fermont number

Fermont is served by 2 overlaid area codes (581 and 418). A 418 number is no more “out of town” than a 581 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Fermont shares area codes 581 and 418 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Quebec, Chicoutimi, Rimouski, Alma, Riviere-du-Loup, Thetford Mines, Levis and Saint-Georges-de-Beauce. The largest of them, Quebec, holds 245 prefixes in 418 and 581; the smallest on the list, Chibougamau, has just 11.

What a Fermont number tells you

A number attached to Fermont tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Quebec, most often Bell Mobility. It does not tell you where the handset is today: most of Fermont’s prefixes are mobile, and a cellphone keeps its number when its owner moves across the country. 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 Fermont: code 581-444 is recorded for Bell Mobility, so every 581-444-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Fermont, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Fermont prefix

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

Had a call from a Fermont number?

No clear pattern in reports on these numbers yet. If a call worried you:

1. Call back on a number you trust

   If a caller says they are your bank, the Canada Revenue Agency, a courier or your phone company, hang up and call the organization on the number from its website or your statement, never the number that called you. Caller ID can be faked.

2. Report the fraud

   Report the call or text to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online or at 1-888-495-8501. If you lost money or gave out personal details, tell your bank first, then your local police.

   Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre ↗

3. Register on the National Do Not Call List

   Registering a landline or mobile on the National DNCL is free. Registered charities, political parties, newspapers and companies you already do business with may still call.

   National Do Not Call List ↗Who can still call you ↗

4. Forward suspicious texts to 7726

   Forward a scam or spam text to 7726 (SPAM on the keypad). It's free, and your carrier uses it to block the sender. Don't tap links or reply.

   Get Cyber Safe: forwarding to 7726 ↗

Allocated prefixes

All 3 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Quebec