Phone prefixes in Merrickville, ON

In numbers

In-service prefixes

11

Telephone numbers covered

110,000

Carriers

8

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

September 10, 2015

Most recent assignment

May 3, 2024

Merrickville’s share of its area codes

Within area code 343, Merrickville accounts for only 10 of 641 prefixes (1.6%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 116 rate centres. Within area code 613, Merrickville accounts for only 1 of 772 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 132 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Iristel Inc. holds the largest share at 4 prefixes, 36.4% of the total, ahead of 7 other carriers. Code by code: in 343, Iristel Inc. leads with 4 of 10 prefixes ahead of 6 others; Bell Canada is the only holder in 613. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Merrickville’s 2 area codes, while 8 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Merrickville’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 11 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Iristel Inc, Bell Canada, Distributel and Fibernetics Corporation. A call showing a Merrickville number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Merrickville’s dated assignments run from 2015 to 2024. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 7 prefixes went to 5 carriers. 1 prefixes (9%) 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.

Merrickville’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 TekSavvy Solutions Inc in 2015. The most recent arrivals are ISP Telecom Inc. (2022), Fibernetics Corporation (2020) and IXICA Communications Inc. (2018), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Merrickville.

Merrickville has only 11 prefixes, or 110,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Merrickville: the leader, Iristel Inc., holds only 36.4% of the prefixes against 7 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: 30.0% 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.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Merrickville number

Merrickville is served by 2 overlaid area codes (343 and 613). A 613 number is no more “out of town” than a 343 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Merrickville shares area codes 343 and 613 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Ottawa-Hull, Kingston, Belleville, Cornwall, Kanata-Stittsville, Brockville, Smiths Falls and Bancroft. The largest of them, Ottawa-Hull, holds 425 prefixes in 343 and 613; the smallest on the list, Cumberland, has just 10.

What a Merrickville number tells you

A number attached to Merrickville 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 8 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 Merrickville: code 343-337 is recorded for Iristel Inc., so every 343-337-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Merrickville, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Merrickville prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 11 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario