Phone prefixes in Nanoose, BC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

5

Telephone numbers covered

50,000

Carriers

5

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

November 27, 2007

Most recent assignment

May 19, 2022

Nanoose’s share of its area codes

Within area code 236, Nanoose accounts for only 2 of 730 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres. Within area code 250, Nanoose accounts for only 2 of 781 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Victoria and spread over 268 rate centres. Within area code 672, Nanoose accounts for only 1 of 318 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 108 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Distributel holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 20.0% of the total, ahead of 4 other carriers. Code by code: in 236, Distributel leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 250, Shaw Telecom Inc. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; ISP Telecom Inc. is the only holder in 672. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Nanoose’s 3 area codes, while 5 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Nanoose’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 5 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Distributel, ISP Telecom Inc, Shaw Telecom Inc and TELUS. A call showing a Nanoose number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Nanoose’s dated assignments run from 2007 to 2022. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 1 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 1 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Nanoose’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to TELUS: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Shaw Telecom Inc. in 2007. The most recent arrivals are ISP Telecom Inc. (2022), Videotron Ltd. (2018) and Distributel (2016), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Nanoose.

Nanoose has just 5 prefixes (50,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Nanoose: the leader, Distributel, holds only 20.0% of the prefixes against 4 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 2015–2019. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Nanoose number

Nanoose is served by 3 overlaid area codes (236, 250 and 672). A 672 number is no more “out of town” than a 236 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Nanoose shares area codes 236, 250 and 672 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, Abbotsford, Nanaimo, Prince George, South Kamloops and Vernon. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 223 prefixes in 236 and 672; the smallest on the list, New Westminster, has just 14.

What a Nanoose number tells you

A number attached to Nanoose tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in British Columbia, most often Distributel. 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 a British Columbia area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Nanoose: code 236-935 is recorded for Distributel, so every 236-935-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Nanoose, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Nanoose prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 5 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia