Phone prefixes in Picton, ON

In numbers

In-service prefixes

13

Telephone numbers covered

130,000

Carriers

10

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

September 25, 2003

Most recent assignment

November 7, 2022

Picton’s share of its area codes

Within area code 613, Picton accounts for only 7 of 772 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 132 rate centres. Within area code 343, Picton accounts for only 6 of 641 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 116 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Fibernetics Corporation holds the largest share at 3 prefixes, 23.1% of the total, ahead of 9 other carriers. Code by code: in 613, Fibernetics Corporation leads with 2 of 7 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 343, Fibernetics Corporation leads with 1 of 6 prefixes ahead of 5 others. 1 carrier holds prefixes in every one of Picton’s 2 area codes, while 9 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

2 of Picton’s 13 prefixes (15.4%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Fido Solutions Inc and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless). Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Fibernetics Corporation, Bell Canada, Bragg Communications Inc and Distributel. 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

Picton’s dated assignments run from 2003 to 2022. The busiest period was 2010–2014, when 4 prefixes went to 4 carriers. 2 prefixes (15%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 4 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Picton’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. (Wireless) in 2003. The most recent arrivals are Distributel (2022), TekSavvy Solutions Inc (2021) and ISP Telecom Inc. (2020), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Picton.

Picton has only 13 prefixes, or 130,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Picton: the leader, Fibernetics Corporation, holds only 23.1% of the prefixes against 9 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: 36.4% of the dated prefixes go back to the last ten years, the most active period being 2010–2014. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Picton number

Picton is served by 2 overlaid area codes (613 and 343). A 343 number is no more “out of town” than a 613 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Picton shares area codes 613 and 343 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Ottawa-Hull, Kingston, Belleville, Cornwall, Kanata-Stittsville, Brockville, Smiths Falls and Bancroft. The largest of them, Ottawa-Hull, holds 425 prefixes in 343 and 613; the smallest on the list, Cumberland, has just 10.

What a Picton number tells you

A number attached to Picton 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 10 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 Picton: code 613-654 is recorded for Fibernetics Corporation, so every 613-654-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Picton, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Picton prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 13 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario