Phone prefixes in Grand Bay-Westfield, NB

In numbers

In-service prefixes

5

Telephone numbers covered

50,000

Carriers

4

Area codes

1

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

October 28, 2005

Most recent assignment

May 20, 2022

Grand Bay-Westfield’s share of its area code

Within area code 506, Grand Bay-Westfield accounts for only 5 of 677 prefixes (0.7%): the code is dominated by Moncton and spread over 88 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Aliant Telecom(NB) holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 40.0% of the total, ahead of 3 other carriers. Code by code: in 506, Aliant Telecom(NB) leads with 2 of 5 prefixes ahead of 3 others.

Wireless and wireline

None of Grand Bay-Westfield’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 5 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Aliant Telecom(NB), Comwave Networks, Distributel and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable). A call showing a Grand Bay-Westfield number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Grand Bay-Westfield’s dated assignments run from 2005 to 2022. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 1 prefixes went to 1 carrier. 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 1 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Grand Bay-Westfield’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Aliant Telecom(NB): this carrier 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 Distributel (2022), Comwave Networks (2014) and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) (2005), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Grand Bay-Westfield.

Grand Bay-Westfield 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.

Aliant Telecom(NB) leads with 40.0% of the prefixes, but 3 competitors have set up in Grand Bay-Westfield: a market where the incumbent keeps the edge without exclusivity.

Demand remains steady: 33.3% 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.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Grand Bay-Westfield number

A single area code, 506, covers Grand Bay-Westfield, and it is not overlaid with any other code on this territory: one of the few parts of Canada where seven-digit local dialling may still work. From abroad, dial +1 506 and the seven-digit number.

The numbering neighbourhood

Grand Bay-Westfield shares area code 506 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Moncton, Saint John, Fredericton, Miramichi, Bathurst, Edmundston, Campbellton and Tracadie. The largest of them, Moncton, holds 79 prefixes in 506; the smallest on the list, Petitcodiac, has just 9.

What a Grand Bay-Westfield number tells you

A number attached to Grand Bay-Westfield tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in New Brunswick, most often Aliant Telecom(NB). 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 New Brunswick area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Grand Bay-Westfield: code 506-738 is recorded for Aliant Telecom(NB), so every 506-738-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Grand Bay-Westfield, New Brunswick” there names a rate centre, not a municipality.

Every Grand Bay-Westfield prefix

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

Had a call from a Grand Bay-Westfield 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 5 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in New Brunswick