Phone prefixes in Maidstone

In numbers

In-service prefixes

15

Telephone numbers covered

150,000

Carriers

13

Area codes

5

Provinces and territories

2

First assignment

June 1, 2007

Most recent assignment

April 28, 2021

Provinces and territories

This name is used for separate rate centres in 2 provinces. The prefixes below share a name in the CNAC register but belong to different communities.

• Ontario — 9 prefixes
• Saskatchewan — 6 prefixes

Maidstone’s share of its area codes

Within area code 226, Maidstone accounts for only 5 of 778 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by London and spread over 166 rate centres. Within area code 306, Maidstone accounts for only 4 of 777 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by Saskatoon and spread over 228 rate centres. Within area code 548, Maidstone accounts for only 3 of 499 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by London and spread over 170 rate centres. Within area code 639, Maidstone accounts for only 2 of 776 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Regina and spread over 202 rate centres. Within area code 519, Maidstone accounts for only 1 of 779 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by London and spread over 210 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

SaskTel holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 13.3% of the total, ahead of 12 other carriers. Code by code: in 226, TELUS Integrated Communications leads with 2 of 5 prefixes ahead of 3 others; in 306, SaskTel leads with 2 of 4 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 548, Distributel 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; Bell Canada is the only holder in 519. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Maidstone’s 5 area codes, while 13 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

3 of Maidstone’s 15 prefixes (20.0%) 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 SaskTel, TELUS Integrated Communications, Access Communications Co-operative Limited and Bell Canada. 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

Maidstone’s dated assignments run from 2007 to 2021. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 5 prefixes went to 4 carriers. 3 prefixes (20%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 3 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Maidstone’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to SaskTel and Bell Canada: these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to ISP Telecom Inc. in 2007. The most recent arrivals are IXICA Communications Inc. (2021), Fibernetics Corporation (2021) and TekSavvy Solutions Inc (2020), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Maidstone.

Maidstone has only 15 prefixes, or 150,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Maidstone: the leader, SaskTel, holds only 13.3% of the prefixes against 12 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.

3 undated in the register.

Dialling a Maidstone number

Maidstone is served by 5 overlaid area codes (226, 306, 548, 639 and 519). A 519 number is no more “out of town” than a 226 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Maidstone shares area codes 226, 306, 548, 639 and 519 with at least 20 other rate centres, including London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Regina, Windsor, Saskatoon, Guelph, Brantford and Moose Jaw. The largest of them, London, holds 214 prefixes in 226, 519 and 548; the smallest on the list, North Battleford, has just 22.

What a Maidstone number tells you

A number attached to Maidstone tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Ontario, most often SaskTel. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 13 carriers present here or to a VoIP service usable anywhere. Nor does it tell you who is calling: caller ID can be spoofed, and an Ontario area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Maidstone: code 306-893 is recorded for SaskTel, so every 306-893-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Maidstone, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Maidstone prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 15 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario