Phone prefixes in Milton, ON

In numbers

In-service prefixes

41

Telephone numbers covered

410,000

Carriers

16

Area codes

4

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

February 17, 2000

Most recent assignment

December 22, 2023

Milton’s share of its area codes

Within area code 289, Milton accounts for only 14 of 772 prefixes (1.8%): the code is dominated by Hamilton and spread over 87 rate centres. Within area code 905, Milton accounts for only 14 of 773 prefixes (1.8%): the code is dominated by Hamilton and spread over 94 rate centres. Within area code 365, Milton accounts for only 11 of 702 prefixes (1.6%): the code is dominated by Markham and spread over 88 rate centres. Within area code 742, Milton accounts for only 2 of 146 prefixes (1.4%): the code is dominated by Brampton and spread over 68 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bell Canada holds the largest share at 8 prefixes, 19.5% of the total, ahead of 15 other carriers. Code by code: in 289, Iristel Inc. leads with 2 of 14 prefixes ahead of 10 others; in 905, Bell Canada leads with 6 of 14 prefixes ahead of 5 others; in 365, Iristel Inc. leads with 3 of 11 prefixes ahead of 8 others; in 742, TELUS Integrated Communications leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Milton’s 4 area codes, while 6 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

12 of Milton’s 41 prefixes (29.3%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: TELUS Mobility, Bell Mobility, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) and Fido Solutions Inc. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Bell Canada, Iristel Inc, Fibernetics Corporation 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

Milton’s dated assignments run from 2000 to 2023. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 8 prefixes went to 8 carriers. 7 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 6 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Milton’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada, TELUS Mobility and Bell Mobility: 4 carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Bell Canada in 2000. The most recent arrivals are Fido Solutions Inc. (2023), TekSavvy Solutions Inc (2021) and IXICA Communications Inc. (2017), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Milton.

Milton’s 41 prefixes provide 410,000 numbers, which corresponds to a mid-sized city or a well-established suburb that every major carrier wants a slice of.

No single carrier dominates Milton: the leader, Bell Canada, holds only 19.5% of the prefixes against 15 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 17.6% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2005–2009, and 7 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Milton numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

7 undated in the register.

Dialling a Milton number

Milton is served by 4 overlaid area codes (289, 905, 365 and 742). A 742 number is no more “out of town” than a 289 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Milton shares area codes 289, 905, 365 and 742 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Hamilton, Brampton, Oshawa, St. Catharines-Thorold, Oakville, Markham, Ajax-Pickering and Cooksville. The largest of them, Hamilton, holds 221 prefixes in 289, 365, 742 and 905; the smallest on the list, Maple, has just 28.

What a Milton number tells you

A number attached to Milton tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Ontario, most often Bell Canada. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 16 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 Milton: code 289-851 is recorded for Bell Canada, so every 289-851-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Milton, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Milton prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 41 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario