Phone prefixes in Lake Cowichan, BC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

3

Telephone numbers covered

30,000

Carriers

3

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

November 7, 2007

Most recent assignment

November 13, 2017

Lake Cowichan’s share of its area codes

Within area code 250, Lake Cowichan accounts for only 2 of 781 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Victoria and spread over 268 rate centres. Within area code 236, Lake Cowichan accounts for only 1 of 745 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bell West Inc. holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 33.3% of the total, ahead of 2 other carriers. Code by code: in 250, Shaw Telecom Inc. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; Bell West Inc. is the only holder in 236. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Lake Cowichan’s 2 area codes, while 3 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Lake Cowichan’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 3 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Bell West Inc, Shaw Telecom Inc and TELUS. A call showing a Lake Cowichan number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Lake Cowichan’s dated assignments run from 2007 to 2017. 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. No prefix has been added since 2020: demand for numbers in Lake Cowichan is flat.

Lake Cowichan’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 Shaw Telecom Inc. in 2007. The most recent arrivals are Bell West Inc. (2017) and Shaw Telecom Inc. (2007), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Lake Cowichan.

Lake Cowichan 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 Lake Cowichan: the leader, Bell West Inc., 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.

Allocation is mature: only 0.0% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2005–2009, and 1 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Lake Cowichan numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Lake Cowichan number

Lake Cowichan is served by 2 overlaid area codes (250 and 236). A 236 number is no more “out of town” than a 250 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Lake Cowichan shares area codes 250 and 236 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, Nanaimo, South Kamloops, Prince George, Vernon and Penticton. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 142 prefixes in 236; the smallest on the list, Williams Lake, has just 12.

What a Lake Cowichan number tells you

A number attached to Lake Cowichan tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in British Columbia, most often Bell West Inc.. 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 British Columbia area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Lake Cowichan: code 236-342 is recorded for Bell West Inc., so every 236-342-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Lake Cowichan, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Lake Cowichan prefix

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

Had a call from a Lake Cowichan 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 3 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia