Phone prefixes in Port Hawkesbury, NS

In numbers

In-service prefixes

12

Telephone numbers covered

120,000

Carriers

8

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

July 18, 2001

Most recent assignment

September 29, 2022

Port Hawkesbury’s share of its area codes

Within area code 902, Port Hawkesbury accounts for only 10 of 782 prefixes (1.3%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 174 rate centres. Within area code 782, Port Hawkesbury accounts for only 2 of 462 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 143 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Aliant Telecom (NS) holds the largest share at 3 prefixes, 25.0% of the total, ahead of 7 other carriers. Code by code: in 902, Aliant Telecom (NS) leads with 3 of 10 prefixes ahead of 6 others; Iristel Inc. is the only holder in 782. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Port Hawkesbury’s 2 area codes, while 8 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

4 of Port Hawkesbury’s 12 prefixes (33.3%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility Aliant, Fido Solutions Inc, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) and TELUS Mobility. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Aliant Telecom (NS), Bragg Communications Inc, Iristel Inc and TELUS Integrated Communications. 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

Port Hawkesbury’s dated assignments run from 2001 to 2022. The busiest period was 2000–2004, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 4 prefixes (33%) 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.

Port Hawkesbury’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Aliant Telecom (NS) and Bell Mobility Aliant: these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Bragg Communications Inc. in 2001. The most recent arrivals are Iristel Inc. (2016), TELUS Integrated Communications (2015) and Fido Solutions Inc. (2014), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Port Hawkesbury.

Port Hawkesbury has only 12 prefixes, or 120,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Port Hawkesbury: the leader, Aliant Telecom (NS), holds only 25.0% of the prefixes against 7 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 12.5% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2000–2004, and 4 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Port Hawkesbury numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

4 undated in the register.

Dialling a Port Hawkesbury number

Port Hawkesbury is served by 2 overlaid area codes (902 and 782). A 782 number is no more “out of town” than a 902 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Port Hawkesbury shares area codes 902 and 782 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Halifax, Charlottetown, Sydney, Truro, Windsor, Amherst, New Glasgow and Kentville. The largest of them, Halifax, holds 220 prefixes in 782 and 902; the smallest on the list, Musquodoboit Harbour, has just 12.

What a Port Hawkesbury number tells you

A number attached to Port Hawkesbury tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Nova Scotia, most often Aliant Telecom (NS). It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 8 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 Nova Scotia area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Port Hawkesbury: code 902-227 is recorded for Aliant Telecom (NS), so every 902-227-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Port Hawkesbury prefix

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

Had a call from a Port Hawkesbury 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 12 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Nova Scotia