Phone prefixes in Rutland, BC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

8

Telephone numbers covered

80,000

Carriers

4

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

February 15, 2005

Most recent assignment

May 25, 2016

Rutland’s share of its area codes

Within area code 250, Rutland accounts for only 5 of 781 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by Victoria and spread over 268 rate centres. Within area code 778, Rutland accounts for only 2 of 779 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 159 rate centres. Within area code 236, Rutland accounts for only 1 of 730 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds the largest share at 5 prefixes, 62.5% of the total, ahead of 3 other carriers. Code by code: in 250, TELUS leads with 4 of 5 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 778, TELUS leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; Distributel is the only holder in 236. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Rutland’s 3 area codes, while 3 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Rutland’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 8 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them TELUS, Bell West Inc, Distributel and Shaw Telecom Inc. A call showing a Rutland number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Rutland’s dated assignments run from 2005 to 2016. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 4 prefixes went to 3 carriers. 2 prefixes (25%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. No prefix has been added since 2020: demand for numbers in Rutland is flat.

Rutland’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 2005. The most recent arrivals are Distributel (2016), Shaw Telecom Inc. (2008) and Bell West Inc. (2006), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Rutland.

Rutland has just 8 prefixes (80,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

TELUS leads with 62.5% of the prefixes, but 3 competitors have set up in Rutland: a market where the incumbent keeps the edge without exclusivity.

Allocation is mature: only 0.0% 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 Rutland numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Rutland number

Rutland is served by 3 overlaid area codes (250, 778 and 236). A 236 number is no more “out of town” than a 250 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Rutland shares area codes 250, 778 and 236 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, New Westminster, Nanaimo, South Kamloops, Prince George and Abbotsford. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 314 prefixes in 236 and 778; the smallest on the list, North Vancouver, has just 21.

What a Rutland number tells you

A number attached to Rutland 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 4 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 Rutland: code 250-491 is recorded for TELUS, so every 250-491-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Rutland, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Rutland prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 8 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia