Phone prefixes in Malartic, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

3

Telephone numbers covered

30,000

Carriers

3

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

March 28, 2013

Most recent assignment

September 18, 2015

Malartic’s share of its area codes

Within area code 819, Malartic 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, Malartic 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

ISP Telecom Inc. holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 33.3% of the total, ahead of 2 other carriers. Code by code: in 819, ISP Telecom Inc. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; TELUS Quebec is the only holder in 873. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Malartic’s 2 area codes, while 3 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

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

How the allocation was built up

Malartic’s dated assignments run from 2013 to 2015. The busiest period was 2010–2014, 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 Malartic is flat.

Malartic’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 ISP Telecom Inc. in 2013. The most recent arrivals are TELUS Quebec (2015) and ISP Telecom Inc. (2013), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Malartic.

Malartic 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 Malartic: the leader, ISP Telecom 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 2010–2014, and 1 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Malartic numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Malartic number

Malartic 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

Malartic 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 Malartic number tells you

A number attached to Malartic tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Quebec, most often ISP Telecom 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 Quebec area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Malartic: code 819-924 is recorded for ISP Telecom Inc., so every 819-924-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Malartic, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Malartic prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

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

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