Phone prefixes in Powell River, BC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

11

Telephone numbers covered

110,000

Carriers

8

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

March 28, 2002

Most recent assignment

November 4, 2024

Powell River’s share of its area codes

Within area code 604, Powell River accounts for only 7 of 781 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 44 rate centres. Within area code 236, Powell River accounts for only 2 of 730 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres. Within area code 778, Powell River accounts for only 2 of 779 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 159 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds the largest share at 3 prefixes, 27.3% of the total, ahead of 7 other carriers. Code by code: in 604, TELUS leads with 3 of 7 prefixes ahead of 3 others; in 236, Iristel Inc. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 778, Bell West Inc. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Powell River’s 3 area codes, while 8 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

5 of Powell River’s 11 prefixes (45.5%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: TELUS Mobility, Bell Mobility, Fido Solutions Inc and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless). Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by TELUS, Bell West Inc, Iristel Inc and Shaw Telecom Inc. 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

Powell River’s dated assignments run from 2002 to 2024. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 3 prefixes went to 3 carriers. 2 prefixes (18%) 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.

Powell River’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 TELUS Mobility in 2002. The most recent arrivals are Iristel Inc. (2024), Shaw Telecom Inc. (2017) and Fido Solutions Inc. (2016), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Powell River.

Powell River has only 11 prefixes, or 110,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Powell River: the leader, TELUS, holds only 27.3% 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 11.1% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2005–2009, and 2 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Powell River numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

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

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Powell River number

Powell River is served by 3 overlaid area codes (604, 236 and 778). A 778 number is no more “out of town” than a 604 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Powell River shares area codes 604, 236 and 778 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, New Westminster, Richmond, Abbotsford, Victoria, Aldergrove, North Vancouver and Newton. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 657 prefixes in 236, 604 and 778; the smallest on the list, Nanaimo, has just 19.

What a Powell River number tells you

A number attached to Powell River 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 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 British Columbia area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Powell River: code 604-413 is recorded for TELUS, so every 604-413-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Powell River, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Powell River prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 11 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia