Phone prefixes in Rouyn-Noranda, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

24

Telephone numbers covered

240,000

Carriers

10

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

November 19, 1999

Most recent assignment

January 18, 2024

Rouyn-Noranda’s share of its area codes

Within area code 819, Rouyn-Noranda accounts for only 14 of 770 prefixes (1.8%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 211 rate centres. Within area code 873, Rouyn-Noranda accounts for only 10 of 667 prefixes (1.5%): the code is dominated by Sherbrooke and spread over 162 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Telebec Ltee. holds the largest share at 7 prefixes, 29.2% of the total, ahead of 9 other carriers. Code by code: in 819, Telebec Ltee. leads with 7 of 14 prefixes ahead of 5 others; in 873, Iristel Inc. leads with 3 of 10 prefixes ahead of 5 others. 2 carriers hold prefixes in every one of Rouyn-Noranda’s 2 area codes, while 8 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

7 of Rouyn-Noranda’s 24 prefixes (29.2%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility, TELUS Mobility, Fido Solutions Inc and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless). Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Telebec Ltee, Iristel Inc, Videotron Ltd and ISP 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

Rouyn-Noranda’s dated assignments run from 1999 to 2024. The busiest period was 2010–2014, when 5 prefixes went to 5 carriers. 7 prefixes (29%) 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.

Rouyn-Noranda’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Telebec Ltee: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) in 1999. The most recent arrivals are Bell Canada (2024), Iristel Inc. (2016) and Videotron Ltd. (2014), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Rouyn-Noranda.

Rouyn-Noranda has only 24 prefixes, or 240,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Rouyn-Noranda: the leader, Telebec Ltee., holds only 29.2% 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: 23.5% 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.

The register also shows 1 prefix assigned but not yet in service in Rouyn-Noranda (Cogeco Connexion Inc): numbers that will start showing up on call displays in the coming months.

7 undated in the register.

Dialling a Rouyn-Noranda number

Rouyn-Noranda is served by 2 overlaid area codes (819 and 873). A 873 number is no more “out of town” than a 819 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Rouyn-Noranda shares area codes 819 and 873 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Ottawa-Hull, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivieres, Drummondville, Gatineau, Victoriaville, Val-D'Or and Maniwaki. The largest of them, Ottawa-Hull, holds 119 prefixes in 819 and 873; the smallest on the list, Plessisville, has just 11.

What a Rouyn-Noranda number tells you

A number attached to Rouyn-Noranda tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Quebec, most often Telebec Ltee.. 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 Quebec area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Rouyn-Noranda: code 819-279 is recorded for Telebec Ltee., so every 819-279-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Rouyn-Noranda prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 24 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Quebec