Phone prefixes in Saint-Augustin, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

7

Telephone numbers covered

70,000

Carriers

4

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

December 3, 1999

Most recent assignment

February 8, 2021

Saint-Augustin’s share of its area codes

Within area code 418, Saint-Augustin accounts for only 5 of 777 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by Quebec and spread over 258 rate centres. Within area code 581, Saint-Augustin accounts for only 2 of 778 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Quebec and spread over 232 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS Quebec holds the largest share at 4 prefixes, 57.1% of the total, ahead of 3 other carriers. Code by code: in 418, TELUS Quebec leads with 3 of 5 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 581, TELUS Quebec leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others. 1 carrier holds prefixes in every one of Saint-Augustin’s 2 area codes, while 3 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

1 of Saint-Augustin’s 7 prefixes (14.3%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: TELUS Mobility. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by TELUS Quebec, Bell Canada and Videotron Ltd. 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

Saint-Augustin’s dated assignments run from 1999 to 2021. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 2 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 1 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Saint-Augustin’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to TELUS Quebec: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to TELUS Quebec in 1999. The most recent arrivals are Bell Canada (2018), Videotron Ltd. (2007) and TELUS Mobility (2006), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Saint-Augustin.

Saint-Augustin has just 7 prefixes (70,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

TELUS Quebec leads with 57.1% of the prefixes, but 3 competitors have set up in Saint-Augustin: a market where the incumbent keeps the edge without exclusivity.

Demand remains steady: 20.0% of the dated prefixes go back to the last ten years, the most active period being 2005–2009. 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 Saint-Augustin (Cogeco Connexion Inc): numbers that will start showing up on call displays in the coming months.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Saint-Augustin number

Saint-Augustin is served by 2 overlaid area codes (418 and 581). A 581 number is no more “out of town” than a 418 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Saint-Augustin shares area codes 418 and 581 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Quebec, Chicoutimi, Rimouski, Alma, Riviere-du-Loup, Thetford Mines, Levis and Saint-Georges-de-Beauce. The largest of them, Quebec, holds 245 prefixes in 418 and 581; the smallest on the list, Chibougamau, has just 11.

What a Saint-Augustin number tells you

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

Reading a register entry for Saint-Augustin: code 418-870 is recorded for TELUS Quebec, so every 418-870-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Saint-Augustin, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Saint-Augustin prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 7 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Quebec