Phone prefixes in Penetanguishene, ON

In numbers

In-service prefixes

8

Telephone numbers covered

80,000

Carriers

7

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

April 16, 2009

Most recent assignment

October 16, 2023

Penetanguishene’s share of its area codes

Within area code 249, Penetanguishene accounts for only 5 of 585 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Sudbury and spread over 176 rate centres. Within area code 705, Penetanguishene accounts for only 3 of 770 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Barrie and spread over 203 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Fibernetics Corporation holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 25.0% of the total, ahead of 6 other carriers. Code by code: in 249, Fibernetics Corporation leads with 1 of 5 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 705, Fibernetics Corporation leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others. 1 carrier holds prefixes in every one of Penetanguishene’s 2 area codes, while 6 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Penetanguishene’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 8 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Fibernetics Corporation, Bell Canada, Distributel and ISP Telecom Inc. A call showing a Penetanguishene number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Penetanguishene’s dated assignments run from 2009 to 2023. The busiest period was 2020–2024, when 3 prefixes went to 3 carriers. 1 prefixes (13%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 3 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Penetanguishene’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) in 2009. The most recent arrivals are ISP Telecom Inc. (2021), IXICA Communications Inc. (2020) and Distributel (2018), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Penetanguishene.

Penetanguishene has just 8 prefixes (80,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Penetanguishene: the leader, Fibernetics Corporation, holds only 25.0% of the prefixes against 6 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: 42.9% of the dated prefixes go back to the last ten years, the most active period being 2020–2024. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Penetanguishene number

Penetanguishene is served by 2 overlaid area codes (249 and 705). A 705 number is no more “out of town” than a 249 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Penetanguishene shares area codes 249 and 705 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Barrie, Sudbury, Peterborough, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay, Huntsville, Collingwood and Lindsay. The largest of them, Barrie, holds 92 prefixes in 249 and 705; the smallest on the list, Kirkland Lake, has just 12.

What a Penetanguishene number tells you

A number attached to Penetanguishene tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Ontario, most often Fibernetics Corporation. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 7 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 Penetanguishene: code 249-946 is recorded for Fibernetics Corporation, so every 249-946-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Penetanguishene, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Penetanguishene prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 8 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario