Phone prefixes in Hudson Bay, SK

In numbers

In-service prefixes

5

Telephone numbers covered

50,000

Carriers

5

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

November 18, 2010

Most recent assignment

November 21, 2018

Hudson Bay’s share of its area codes

Within area code 306, Hudson Bay accounts for only 3 of 777 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Saskatoon and spread over 228 rate centres. Within area code 639, Hudson Bay accounts for only 2 of 776 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Regina and spread over 202 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Access Communications Co-operative Limited holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 20.0% of the total, ahead of 4 other carriers. Code by code: in 306, SaskTel leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 639, Access Communications Co-operative Limited leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Hudson Bay’s 2 area codes, while 5 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

3 of Hudson Bay’s 5 prefixes (60.0%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility, SaskTel Mobility and TELUS Mobility. That makes this a mostly mobile rate centre, which is typical of recent allocations: new prefixes go overwhelmingly to cellphones. 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

Hudson Bay’s dated assignments run from 2010 to 2018. The busiest period was 2010–2014, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 1 prefixes (20%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. No prefix has been added since 2020: demand for numbers in Hudson Bay is flat.

Hudson Bay’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 Access Communications Co-operative Limited (2018), Bell Mobility (2016) and SaskTel Mobility (2010), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Hudson Bay.

Hudson Bay 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.

No single carrier dominates Hudson Bay: the leader, Access Communications Co-operative Limited, holds only 20.0% of the prefixes against 4 competitors, a sign of a highly fragmented market where cable companies, mobility brands and VoIP providers weigh as much as the incumbent.

Allocation is mature: only 0.0% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2010–2014, and 1 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Hudson Bay numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Hudson Bay number

Hudson Bay is served by 2 overlaid area codes (306 and 639). A 639 number is no more “out of town” than a 306 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Hudson Bay shares area codes 306 and 639 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 157 prefixes in 306 and 639; the smallest on the list, Rosthern, has just 12.

What a Hudson Bay number tells you

A number attached to Hudson Bay tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Saskatchewan, most often Access Communications Co-operative Limited. It does not tell you where the handset is today: most of Hudson Bay’s prefixes are mobile, and a cellphone keeps its number when its owner moves across the country. 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 Hudson Bay: code 639-271 is recorded for Access Communications Co-operative Limited, so every 639-271-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Hudson Bay prefix

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

Had a call from a Hudson Bay 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 Saskatchewan