Phone prefixes in Gentilly, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

5

Telephone numbers covered

50,000

Carriers

4

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

September 7, 2006

Most recent assignment

July 20, 2023

Gentilly’s share of its area codes

Within area code 819, Gentilly accounts for only 4 of 770 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 211 rate centres. Within area code 873, Gentilly accounts for only 1 of 667 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Sherbrooke and spread over 162 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Telebec Ltee. holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 40.0% of the total, ahead of 3 other carriers. Code by code: in 819, Telebec Ltee. leads with 2 of 4 prefixes ahead of 2 others; Bell Canada is the only holder in 873. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Gentilly’s 2 area codes, while 4 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Gentilly’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 5 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Telebec Ltee, 9164-3122 Quebec inc, Bell Canada and TELUS Quebec. A call showing a Gentilly number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Gentilly’s dated assignments run from 2006 to 2023. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 3 prefixes went to 3 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.

Gentilly’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 9164-3122 Quebec inc in 2006. The most recent arrivals are Bell Canada (2023), TELUS Quebec (2008) and Telebec Ltee. (2006), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Gentilly.

Gentilly 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.

Telebec Ltee. leads with 40.0% of the prefixes, but 3 competitors have set up in Gentilly: a market where the incumbent keeps the edge without exclusivity.

Demand remains steady: 25.0% of the dated prefixes go back to the last ten years, the most active period being 2005–2009. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Gentilly number

Gentilly is served by 2 overlaid area codes (819 and 873). A 873 number is no more “out of town” than a 819 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Gentilly shares area codes 819 and 873 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Ottawa-Hull, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivieres, Drummondville, Gatineau, Victoriaville, Val-D'Or and Maniwaki. The largest of them, Ottawa-Hull, holds 119 prefixes in 819 and 873; the smallest on the list, Ville-Marie, has just 12.

What a Gentilly number tells you

A number attached to Gentilly tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Quebec, most often Telebec Ltee.. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 4 carriers present here or to a VoIP service usable anywhere. 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 Gentilly: code 819-298 is recorded for Telebec Ltee., so every 819-298-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Gentilly, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Gentilly prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

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

Elsewhere in Quebec