Phone prefixes in Ham-Nord, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

3

Telephone numbers covered

30,000

Carriers

3

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

April 4, 2008

Most recent assignment

November 26, 2021

Ham-Nord’s share of its area codes

Within area code 819, Ham-Nord accounts for only 2 of 770 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 211 rate centres. Within area code 873, Ham-Nord 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

Cooptel holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 33.3% of the total, ahead of 2 other carriers. Code by code: in 819, IVIC Telecom s.e.n.c leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; Cooptel is the only holder in 873. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Ham-Nord’s 2 area codes, while 3 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Ham-Nord’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 3 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Cooptel, IVIC Telecom s.e.n.c and Telebec Ltee. A call showing a Ham-Nord number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Ham-Nord’s dated assignments run from 2008 to 2021. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 1 prefixes went to 1 carrier. 1 prefixes (33%) 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.

Ham-Nord’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 IVIC Telecom s.e.n.c in 2008. The most recent arrivals are Cooptel (2021) and IVIC Telecom s.e.n.c (2008), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Ham-Nord.

Ham-Nord 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 Ham-Nord: the leader, Cooptel, 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.

Growth is recent: 50.0% of the dated prefixes were assigned in the last ten years, peaking in 2005–2009. Ham-Nord is among the rate centres where demand for numbers is still rising quickly.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Ham-Nord number

Ham-Nord 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

Ham-Nord 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 Ham-Nord number tells you

A number attached to Ham-Nord tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Quebec, most often Cooptel. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 3 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 Ham-Nord: code 873-831 is recorded for Cooptel, so every 873-831-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Ham-Nord, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Ham-Nord prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

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

Elsewhere in Quebec