Phone prefixes in Scotstown, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

7

Telephone numbers covered

70,000

Carriers

6

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

August 25, 2008

Most recent assignment

March 31, 2025

Scotstown’s share of its area codes

Within area code 873, Scotstown accounts for only 4 of 667 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by Sherbrooke and spread over 162 rate centres. Within area code 819, Scotstown accounts for only 2 of 770 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 211 rate centres. Within area code 468, Scotstown accounts for only 1 of 67 prefixes (1.5%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 57 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Videotron Ltd. holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 28.6% of the total, ahead of 5 other carriers. Code by code: in 873, Videotron Ltd. leads with 1 of 4 prefixes ahead of 3 others; in 819, Videotron Ltd. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; 9164-3122 Quebec inc is the only holder in 468. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Scotstown’s 3 area codes, while 5 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Scotstown’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 7 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Videotron Ltd, 9164-3122 Quebec inc, Bell Canada and Distributel. A call showing a Scotstown number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Scotstown’s dated assignments run from 2008 to 2025. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 1 prefixes (14%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 3 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Scotstown’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Videotron Ltd. in 2008. The most recent arrivals are TELUS Quebec (2025), 9164-3122 Quebec inc (2022) and Fibernetics Corporation (2021), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Scotstown.

Scotstown 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.

No single carrier dominates Scotstown: the leader, Videotron Ltd., holds only 28.6% 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.

Growth is recent: 50.0% of the dated prefixes were assigned in the last ten years, peaking in 2015–2019. Scotstown is among the rate centres where demand for numbers is still rising quickly.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Scotstown number

Scotstown is served by 3 overlaid area codes (873, 819 and 468). A 468 number is no more “out of town” than a 873 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Scotstown shares area codes 873, 819 and 468 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Ottawa-Hull, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivieres, Drummondville, Victoriaville, Gatineau, Val-D'Or and Maniwaki. The largest of them, Ottawa-Hull, holds 122 prefixes in 468, 819 and 873; the smallest on the list, Ville-Marie, has just 12.

What a Scotstown number tells you

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

Reading a register entry for Scotstown: code 873-548 is recorded for Videotron Ltd., so every 873-548-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Scotstown, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Scotstown prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

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

Elsewhere in Quebec