Phone prefixes in Markstay, ON

In numbers

In-service prefixes

7

Telephone numbers covered

70,000

Carriers

5

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

November 3, 2008

Most recent assignment

September 26, 2024

Markstay’s share of its area codes

Within area code 249, Markstay accounts for only 5 of 585 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Sudbury and spread over 176 rate centres. Within area code 705, Markstay accounts for only 2 of 770 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Barrie and spread over 203 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Iristel Inc. holds the largest share at 3 prefixes, 42.9% of the total, ahead of 4 other carriers. Code by code: in 249, Iristel Inc. leads with 3 of 5 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 705, Bell Canada leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Markstay’s 2 area codes, while 5 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Markstay’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 7 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Iristel Inc, Bell Canada, Bragg Communications Inc and Distributel. A call showing a Markstay number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Markstay’s dated assignments run from 2008 to 2024. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 3 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 1 prefixes (14%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 2 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Markstay’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Bragg Communications Inc. in 2008. The most recent arrivals are Fibernetics Corporation (2022), Distributel (2018) and Iristel Inc. (2016), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Markstay.

Markstay has just 7 prefixes (70,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

Iristel Inc. leads with 42.9% of the prefixes, but 4 competitors have set up in Markstay: a market where the incumbent keeps the edge without exclusivity.

Demand remains steady: 33.3% 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.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Markstay number

Markstay is served by 2 overlaid area codes (249 and 705). A 705 number is no more “out of town” than a 249 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Markstay shares area codes 249 and 705 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Barrie, Sudbury, Peterborough, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay, Huntsville, Collingwood and Lindsay. The largest of them, Barrie, holds 92 prefixes in 249 and 705; the smallest on the list, Kirkland Lake, has just 12.

What a Markstay number tells you

A number attached to Markstay tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Ontario, 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 5 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 Markstay: code 249-491 is recorded for Iristel Inc., so every 249-491-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Markstay, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Markstay prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 7 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario