Phone prefixes in Grenfell, SK

In numbers

In-service prefixes

9

Telephone numbers covered

90,000

Carriers

8

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

November 18, 2010

Most recent assignment

December 5, 2022

Grenfell’s share of its area codes

Within area code 639, Grenfell accounts for only 5 of 776 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by Regina and spread over 202 rate centres. Within area code 306, Grenfell accounts for only 3 of 777 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Saskatoon and spread over 228 rate centres. Within area code 474, Grenfell accounts for only 1 of 88 prefixes (1.1%): the code is dominated by Saskatoon and spread over 70 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Distributel holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 22.2% of the total, ahead of 7 other carriers. Code by code: in 639, Distributel leads with 2 of 5 prefixes ahead of 3 others; in 306, SaskTel leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others; Fibernetics Corporation is the only holder in 474. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Grenfell’s 3 area codes, while 8 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

3 of Grenfell’s 9 prefixes (33.3%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility, SaskTel Mobility and TELUS Mobility. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Distributel, Access Communications Co-operative Limited, Fibernetics Corporation and ISP Telecom Inc. 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

Grenfell’s dated assignments run from 2010 to 2022. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 4 prefixes went to 3 carriers. 1 prefixes (11%) 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.

Grenfell’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to SaskTel: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to TELUS Mobility in 2010. The most recent arrivals are Fibernetics Corporation (2022), ISP Telecom Inc. (2021) and Access Communications Co-operative Limited (2017), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Grenfell.

Grenfell has just 9 prefixes (90,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Grenfell: the leader, Distributel, holds only 22.2% of the prefixes against 7 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 Grenfell number

Grenfell is served by 3 overlaid area codes (639, 306 and 474). A 474 number is no more “out of town” than a 639 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Grenfell shares area codes 639, 306 and 474 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Regina, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, North Battleford, Yorkton, Swift Current and Moosomin. The largest of them, Regina, holds 161 prefixes in 306, 474 and 639; the smallest on the list, Watrous, has just 14.

What a Grenfell number tells you

A number attached to Grenfell tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Saskatchewan, most often Distributel. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 8 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 Saskatchewan area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Grenfell: code 639-623 is recorded for Distributel, so every 639-623-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Grenfell, Saskatchewan” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Grenfell prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 9 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Saskatchewan