Phone prefixes in Shawville, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

9

Telephone numbers covered

90,000

Carriers

7

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

March 1, 2010

Most recent assignment

March 27, 2025

Shawville’s share of its area codes

Within area code 873, Shawville accounts for only 6 of 667 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Sherbrooke and spread over 162 rate centres. Within area code 819, Shawville 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, Shawville 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

Telebec Ltee. holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 22.2% of the total, ahead of 6 other carriers. Code by code: in 873, Videotron Ltd. leads with 2 of 6 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 819, Telebec Ltee. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; Cogeco Connexion Inc. is the only holder in 468. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Shawville’s 3 area codes, while 6 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

1 of Shawville’s 9 prefixes (11.1%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Telebec Ltee, Videotron Ltd, Bell Canada and Cogeco Connexion 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

Shawville’s dated assignments run from 2010 to 2025. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 3 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 1 prefixes (11%) 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.

Shawville’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 Telecommunications Xittel Inc in 2010. The most recent arrivals are Cogeco Connexion Inc. (2025), Bell Canada (2022) and TELUS Quebec (2021), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Shawville.

Shawville has just 9 prefixes (90,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Shawville: the leader, Telebec Ltee., holds only 22.2% 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: 37.5% of the dated prefixes go back to the last ten years, the most active period being 2015–2019. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Shawville number

Shawville 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

Shawville 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 Shawville number tells you

A number attached to Shawville 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 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 Quebec area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Shawville: code 873-340 is recorded for Telebec Ltee., so every 873-340-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Shawville, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Shawville prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 9 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Quebec