Phone prefixes in Richibucto, NB

In numbers

In-service prefixes

13

Telephone numbers covered

130,000

Carriers

10

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

October 1, 2001

Most recent assignment

August 3, 2023

Richibucto’s share of its area codes

Within area code 506, Richibucto accounts for only 12 of 677 prefixes (1.8%): the code is dominated by Moncton and spread over 88 rate centres. Within area code 428, Richibucto accounts for only 1 of 21 prefixes (4.8%): the code is dominated by Bathurst and spread over 15 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Iristel Inc. holds the largest share at 3 prefixes, 23.1% of the total, ahead of 9 other carriers. Code by code: in 506, Iristel Inc. leads with 2 of 12 prefixes ahead of 9 others; Iristel Inc. is the only holder in 428. 1 carrier holds prefixes in every one of Richibucto’s 2 area codes, while 9 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

4 of Richibucto’s 13 prefixes (30.8%) 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 Iristel Inc, Aliant Telecom(NB), 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

Richibucto’s dated assignments run from 2001 to 2023. The busiest period was 2020–2024, when 4 prefixes went to 3 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.

Richibucto’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Aliant Telecom(NB): this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) in 2001. The most recent arrivals are Bragg Communications Inc. (2023), Distributel (2022) and Iristel Inc. (2016), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Richibucto.

Richibucto 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 Richibucto: the leader, Iristel Inc., 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 2020–2024. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Richibucto number

Richibucto is served by 2 overlaid area codes (506 and 428). A 428 number is no more “out of town” than a 506 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Richibucto shares area codes 506 and 428 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Moncton, Saint John, Fredericton, Miramichi, Bathurst, Edmundston, Campbellton and Woodstock. The largest of them, Moncton, holds 81 prefixes in 428 and 506; the smallest on the list, Sackville, has just 10.

What a Richibucto number tells you

A number attached to Richibucto tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in New Brunswick, most often Iristel Inc.. 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 a New Brunswick area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Richibucto: code 506-404 is recorded for Iristel Inc., so every 506-404-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Richibucto, New Brunswick” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Richibucto prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

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

Elsewhere in New Brunswick