Phone prefixes in Qualicum, BC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

9

Telephone numbers covered

90,000

Carriers

6

Area codes

4

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

June 18, 2001

Most recent assignment

May 19, 2022

Qualicum’s share of its area codes

Within area code 250, Qualicum accounts for only 4 of 781 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by Victoria and spread over 268 rate centres. Within area code 236, Qualicum 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, Qualicum accounts for only 2 of 779 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 159 rate centres. Within area code 672, Qualicum accounts for only 1 of 320 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 108 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds the largest share at 3 prefixes, 33.3% of the total, ahead of 5 other carriers. Code by code: in 250, TELUS leads with 2 of 4 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 236, Distributel leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 778, TELUS leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; ISP Telecom Inc. is the only holder in 672. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Qualicum’s 4 area codes, while 5 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Qualicum’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 9 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them TELUS, Shaw Telecom Inc, Bell West Inc and Distributel. A call showing a Qualicum number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Qualicum’s dated assignments run from 2001 to 2022. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 2 prefixes went to 1 carrier. 1 prefixes (11%) 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.

Qualicum’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 in 2001. The most recent arrivals are ISP Telecom Inc. (2022), Videotron Ltd. (2018) and Distributel (2016), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Qualicum.

Qualicum has just 9 prefixes (90,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Qualicum: the leader, TELUS, holds only 33.3% of the prefixes against 5 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 2005–2009, and 1 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Qualicum numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Qualicum number

Qualicum is served by 4 overlaid area codes (250, 236, 778 and 672). A 672 number is no more “out of town” than a 250 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Qualicum shares area codes 250, 236, 778 and 672 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, New Westminster, Abbotsford, Nanaimo, South Kamloops and Prince George. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 397 prefixes in 236, 672 and 778; the smallest on the list, Campbell River, has just 21.

What a Qualicum number tells you

A number attached to Qualicum 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 6 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 Qualicum: code 250-738 is recorded for TELUS, so every 250-738-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Qualicum, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Qualicum prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 9 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia