Phone prefixes in Nelson, BC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

15

Telephone numbers covered

150,000

Carriers

9

Area codes

4

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

September 17, 2001

Most recent assignment

November 1, 2024

Nelson’s share of its area codes

Within area code 250, Nelson accounts for only 6 of 781 prefixes (0.8%): the code is dominated by Victoria and spread over 268 rate centres. Within area code 778, Nelson accounts for only 5 of 779 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 159 rate centres. Within area code 236, Nelson accounts for only 3 of 730 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres. Within area code 672, Nelson accounts for only 1 of 320 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 108 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds the largest share at 5 prefixes, 33.3% of the total, ahead of 8 other carriers. Code by code: in 250, TELUS leads with 3 of 6 prefixes ahead of 3 others; in 778, TELUS leads with 1 of 5 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 236, TELUS leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others; Bell Mobility is the only holder in 672. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Nelson’s 4 area codes, while 6 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

6 of Nelson’s 15 prefixes (40.0%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility, TELUS Mobility, Fido Solutions Inc and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless). Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by TELUS, Bell West Inc, Iristel Inc and Navigata Communications Limited. 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

Nelson’s dated assignments run from 2001 to 2024. The busiest period was 2010–2014, when 4 prefixes went to 4 carriers. 3 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.

Nelson’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 Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) in 2001. The most recent arrivals are Iristel Inc. (2024), Navigata Communications Limited (2014) and TELUS (2013), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Nelson.

Nelson has only 15 prefixes, or 150,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Nelson: the leader, TELUS, holds only 33.3% of the prefixes against 8 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 16.7% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2010–2014, and 3 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Nelson numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

The register also shows 1 prefix assigned but not yet in service in Nelson (Fibernetics Corporation): numbers that will start showing up on call displays in the coming months.

3 undated in the register.

Dialling a Nelson number

Nelson is served by 4 overlaid area codes (250, 778, 236 and 672). A 672 number is no more “out of town” than a 250 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Nelson shares area codes 250, 778, 236 and 672 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, New Westminster, Abbotsford, Nanaimo, South Kamloops and Prince George. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 397 prefixes in 236, 672 and 778; the smallest on the list, Campbell River, has just 21.

What a Nelson number tells you

A number attached to Nelson tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in British Columbia, most often TELUS. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 9 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 Nelson: code 250-352 is recorded for TELUS, so every 250-352-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Nelson, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Nelson prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 15 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia