Phone prefixes in South Mountain, ON

In numbers

In-service prefixes

5

Telephone numbers covered

50,000

Carriers

5

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

September 11, 2015

Most recent assignment

February 25, 2022

South Mountain’s share of its area codes

Within area code 343, South Mountain accounts for only 4 of 641 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 116 rate centres. Within area code 613, South Mountain accounts for only 1 of 772 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 132 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bell Canada holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 20.0% of the total, ahead of 4 other carriers. Code by code: in 343, Distributel leads with 1 of 4 prefixes ahead of 3 others; Bell Canada is the only holder in 613. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of South Mountain’s 2 area codes, while 5 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of South Mountain’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 5 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Bell Canada, Distributel, Fibernetics Corporation and TELUS Integrated Communications. A call showing a South Mountain number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

South Mountain’s dated assignments run from 2015 to 2022. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 3 prefixes went to 3 carriers. 1 prefixes (20%) 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.

South Mountain’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 TekSavvy Solutions Inc in 2015. The most recent arrivals are Fibernetics Corporation (2022), Distributel (2018) and TELUS Integrated Communications (2017), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in South Mountain.

South Mountain has just 5 prefixes (50,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates South Mountain: the leader, Bell Canada, holds only 20.0% of the prefixes against 4 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: 25.0% 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 South Mountain number

South Mountain is served by 2 overlaid area codes (343 and 613). A 613 number is no more “out of town” than a 343 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

South Mountain shares area codes 343 and 613 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Ottawa-Hull, Kingston, Belleville, Cornwall, Kanata-Stittsville, Brockville, Smiths Falls and Bancroft. The largest of them, Ottawa-Hull, holds 425 prefixes in 343 and 613; the smallest on the list, Brighton, has just 10.

What a South Mountain number tells you

A number attached to South Mountain tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Ontario, most often Bell Canada. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 5 carriers present here or to a VoIP service usable anywhere. Nor does it tell you who is calling: caller ID can be spoofed, and an Ontario area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for South Mountain: code 613-989 is recorded for Bell Canada, so every 613-989-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “South Mountain, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every South Mountain prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 5 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario