Phone prefixes in Matapedia, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

6

Telephone numbers covered

60,000

Carriers

4

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

August 16, 2007

Most recent assignment

May 21, 2024

Matapedia’s share of its area codes

Within area code 581, Matapedia accounts for only 3 of 778 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Quebec and spread over 232 rate centres. Within area code 418, Matapedia accounts for only 2 of 777 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Quebec and spread over 258 rate centres. Within area code 367, Matapedia accounts for only 1 of 232 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Quebec and spread over 110 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Iristel Inc. holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 33.3% of the total, ahead of 3 other carriers. Code by code: in 581, Iristel Inc. leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 418, TELUS Quebec leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; Iristel Inc. is the only holder in 367. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Matapedia’s 3 area codes, while 2 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

2 of Matapedia’s 6 prefixes (33.3%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility and TELUS Mobility. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Iristel Inc and TELUS Quebec. 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

Matapedia’s dated assignments run from 2007 to 2024. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 1 prefixes (17%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 1 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Matapedia’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to TELUS Quebec: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Bell Mobility in 2007. The most recent arrivals are Iristel Inc. (2018), TELUS Quebec (2017) and TELUS Mobility (2008), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Matapedia.

Matapedia has just 6 prefixes (60,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Matapedia: the leader, Iristel Inc., holds only 33.3% of the prefixes against 3 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: 20.0% of the dated prefixes go back to the last ten years, the most active period being 2005–2009. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Matapedia number

Matapedia is served by 3 overlaid area codes (581, 418 and 367). A 367 number is no more “out of town” than a 581 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Matapedia shares area codes 581, 418 and 367 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Quebec, Chicoutimi, Alma, Rimouski, Riviere-du-Loup, Thetford Mines, Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce and Levis. The largest of them, Quebec, holds 282 prefixes in 367, 418 and 581; the smallest on the list, Saint-Henri-de-Levis, has just 16.

What a Matapedia number tells you

A number attached to Matapedia tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Quebec, 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 4 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 Matapedia: code 581-513 is recorded for Iristel Inc., so every 581-513-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Matapedia, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Matapedia prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 6 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Quebec