Phone prefixes in Northwest River, NL

In numbers

In-service prefixes

1

Telephone numbers covered

10,000

Carriers

1

Area codes

1

Provinces and territories

1

Northwest River’s share of its area code

Within area code 709, Northwest River accounts for only 1 of 631 prefixes (0.2%): the code is dominated by St. John's and spread over 209 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Aliant Telecom (NF) holds every prefix here. Code by code: Aliant Telecom (NF) is the only holder in 709.

Wireless and wireline

None of Northwest River’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 1 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Aliant Telecom (NF). A call showing a Northwest River number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

The register dates none of Northwest River’s assignments: all 1 prefixes predate CNAC’s record-keeping, the signature of an old, settled network where nothing has been added in decades.

Aliant Telecom (NF) is the only carrier ever recorded for Northwest River: no competitor has obtained a prefix here. A single-carrier rate centre is typical of small communities where only the incumbent ever built a network.

Northwest River has just 1 prefix (10,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

The local market is an allocation monopoly: Aliant Telecom (NF) holds every prefix, and no competitor has ever requested a code for Northwest River.

Dialling a Northwest River number

A single area code, 709, covers Northwest River, and it is not overlaid with any other code on this territory: one of the few parts of Canada where seven-digit local dialling may still work. From abroad, dial +1 709 and the seven-digit number.

The numbering neighbourhood

Northwest River shares area code 709 with at least 20 other rate centres, including St. John's, Corner Brook, Clarenville, Carbonear, Gander, Marystown, Bay Roberts and Labrador City - Wabush. The largest of them, St. John's, holds 100 prefixes in 709; the smallest on the list, Glovertown, has just 5.

What a Northwest River number tells you

A number attached to Northwest River tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Newfoundland and Labrador, most often Aliant Telecom (NF). It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 1 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 Newfoundland and Labrador area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Northwest River: code 709-497 is recorded for Aliant Telecom (NF), so every 709-497-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Northwest River, Newfoundland and Labrador” there names a rate centre, not a municipality.

Every Northwest River prefix

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

Had a call from a Northwest River number?

No clear pattern in reports on these numbers yet. If a call worried you:

1. Call back on a number you trust

   If a caller says they are your bank, the Canada Revenue Agency, a courier or your phone company, hang up and call the organization on the number from its website or your statement, never the number that called you. Caller ID can be faked.

2. Report the fraud

   Report the call or text to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online or at 1-888-495-8501. If you lost money or gave out personal details, tell your bank first, then your local police.

   Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre ↗

3. Register on the National Do Not Call List

   Registering a landline or mobile on the National DNCL is free. Registered charities, political parties, newspapers and companies you already do business with may still call.

   National Do Not Call List ↗Who can still call you ↗

4. Forward suspicious texts to 7726

   Forward a scam or spam text to 7726 (SPAM on the keypad). It's free, and your carrier uses it to block the sender. Don't tap links or reply.

   Get Cyber Safe: forwarding to 7726 ↗

Allocated prefixes

All 1 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Newfoundland and Labrador