Phone prefixes in Sechelt, BC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

13

Telephone numbers covered

130,000

Carriers

7

Area codes

4

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

April 10, 2002

Most recent assignment

December 23, 2020

Sechelt’s share of its area codes

Within area code 604, Sechelt accounts for only 10 of 781 prefixes (1.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 44 rate centres. Within area code 236, Sechelt accounts for only 1 of 730 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres. Within area code 672, Sechelt accounts for only 1 of 320 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 108 rate centres. Within area code 778, Sechelt accounts for only 1 of 779 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 159 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds the largest share at 5 prefixes, 38.5% of the total, ahead of 6 other carriers. Code by code: in 604, TELUS leads with 5 of 10 prefixes ahead of 4 others; Bell West Inc. is the only holder in 236; TELUS Mobility is the only holder in 672; Bragg Communications Inc. is the only holder in 778. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Sechelt’s 4 area codes, while 6 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

6 of Sechelt’s 13 prefixes (46.2%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: TELUS Mobility, Bell Mobility, Fido Solutions Inc and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless). Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by TELUS, Bell West Inc and Bragg Communications 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

Sechelt’s dated assignments run from 2002 to 2020. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 6 prefixes went to 5 carriers. 3 prefixes (23%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 2 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Sechelt’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 Mobility in 2002. The most recent arrivals are Bell West Inc. (2020), Bragg Communications Inc. (2011) and TELUS (2007), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Sechelt.

Sechelt 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 Sechelt: the leader, TELUS, holds only 38.5% of the prefixes against 6 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: 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.

3 undated in the register.

Dialling a Sechelt number

Sechelt is served by 4 overlaid area codes (604, 236, 672 and 778). A 778 number is no more “out of town” than a 604 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Sechelt shares area codes 604, 236, 672 and 778 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, New Westminster, Abbotsford, Victoria, Richmond, North Vancouver, Aldergrove and Newton. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 740 prefixes in 236, 604, 672 and 778; the smallest on the list, Nanaimo, has just 22.

What a Sechelt number tells you

A number attached to Sechelt 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 7 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 Sechelt: code 604-740 is recorded for TELUS, so every 604-740-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Sechelt, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Sechelt prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

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

Elsewhere in British Columbia