Phone prefixes in Middleton, NS

In numbers

In-service prefixes

10

Telephone numbers covered

100,000

Carriers

6

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

July 18, 2001

Most recent assignment

August 26, 2024

Middleton’s share of its area codes

Within area code 902, Middleton accounts for only 6 of 782 prefixes (0.8%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 175 rate centres. Within area code 782, Middleton accounts for only 4 of 456 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 142 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Iristel Inc. holds the largest share at 3 prefixes, 30.0% of the total, ahead of 5 other carriers. Code by code: in 902, Aliant Telecom (NS) leads with 2 of 6 prefixes ahead of 3 others; in 782, Iristel Inc. leads with 3 of 4 prefixes ahead of 1 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Middleton’s 2 area codes, while 6 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

2 of Middleton’s 10 prefixes (20.0%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility Aliant and TELUS Mobility. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Iristel Inc, Aliant Telecom (NS), Bragg Communications Inc and TELUS Integrated Communications. 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

Middleton’s dated assignments run from 2001 to 2024. The busiest period was 2000–2004, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 2 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 2 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Middleton’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Mobility Aliant and Aliant Telecom (NS): these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Bragg Communications Inc. in 2001. The most recent arrivals are Iristel Inc. (2016), TELUS Integrated Communications (2015) and TELUS Mobility (2006), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Middleton.

Middleton has only 10 prefixes, or 100,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Middleton: the leader, Iristel Inc., holds only 30.0% of the prefixes against 5 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 2000–2004. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Middleton number

Middleton is served by 2 overlaid area codes (902 and 782). A 782 number is no more “out of town” than a 902 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Middleton shares area codes 902 and 782 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Halifax, Charlottetown, Sydney, Truro, Amherst, New Glasgow, Kentville and Summerside. The largest of them, Halifax, holds 220 prefixes in 782 and 902; the smallest on the list, Musquodoboit Harbour, has just 12.

What a Middleton number tells you

A number attached to Middleton tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Nova Scotia, 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 6 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 Nova Scotia area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Middleton: code 782-492 is recorded for Iristel Inc., so every 782-492-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Middleton, Nova Scotia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Middleton prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 10 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Nova Scotia