Phone prefixes in Hope, BC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

18

Telephone numbers covered

180,000

Carriers

11

Area codes

4

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

May 14, 2001

Most recent assignment

October 3, 2024

Hope’s share of its area codes

Within area code 604, Hope accounts for only 7 of 781 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 44 rate centres. Within area code 236, Hope accounts for only 6 of 730 prefixes (0.8%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres. Within area code 778, Hope accounts for only 3 of 779 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 159 rate centres. Within area code 672, Hope accounts for only 2 of 320 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 108 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Iristel Inc. holds the largest share at 4 prefixes, 22.2% of the total, ahead of 10 other carriers. Code by code: in 604, TELUS leads with 2 of 7 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 236, Iristel Inc. leads with 1 of 6 prefixes ahead of 5 others; in 778, Iristel Inc. leads with 2 of 3 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 672, Iristel Inc. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Hope’s 4 area codes, while 8 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

6 of Hope’s 18 prefixes (33.3%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless), TELUS Mobility, Bell Mobility and Fido Solutions Inc. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Iristel Inc, TELUS, Bell West Inc and Distributel. 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

Hope’s dated assignments run from 2001 to 2024. The busiest period was 2020–2024, when 6 prefixes went to 5 carriers. 2 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 6 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Hope’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to TELUS: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) in 2001. The most recent arrivals are Fibernetics Corporation (2022), ISP Telecom Inc. (2022) and Bell West Inc. (2020), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Hope.

Hope has only 18 prefixes, or 180,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Hope: the leader, Iristel Inc., holds only 22.2% of the prefixes against 10 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: 37.5% of the dated prefixes go back to the last ten years, the most active period being 2020–2024. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Hope number

Hope is served by 4 overlaid area codes (604, 236, 778 and 672). A 672 number is no more “out of town” than a 604 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Hope shares area codes 604, 236, 778 and 672 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, New Westminster, Abbotsford, Victoria, Richmond, North Vancouver, Aldergrove and Newton. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 740 prefixes in 236, 604, 672 and 778; the smallest on the list, Nanaimo, has just 22.

What a Hope number tells you

A number attached to Hope tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in British Columbia, most often Iristel Inc.. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 11 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 British Columbia area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Hope: code 236-314 is recorded for Iristel Inc., so every 236-314-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Hope, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Hope prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 18 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia