Phone prefixes in Southampton

In numbers

In-service prefixes

10

Telephone numbers covered

100,000

Carriers

8

Area codes

5

Provinces and territories

2

First assignment

June 12, 2006

Most recent assignment

December 2, 2021

Provinces and territories

This name is used for separate rate centres in 2 provinces. The prefixes below share a name in the CNAC register but belong to different communities.

• Nova Scotia — 5 prefixes
• Ontario — 5 prefixes

Southampton’s share of its area codes

Within area code 782, Southampton accounts for only 4 of 456 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 142 rate centres. Within area code 226, Southampton accounts for only 2 of 778 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by London and spread over 166 rate centres. Within area code 519, Southampton accounts for only 2 of 779 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by London and spread over 210 rate centres. Within area code 548, Southampton accounts for only 1 of 499 prefixes (0.2%): the code is dominated by London and spread over 170 rate centres. Within area code 902, Southampton accounts for only 1 of 782 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 175 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bragg Communications Inc. holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 20.0% of the total, ahead of 7 other carriers. Code by code: in 782, Bragg Communications Inc. leads with 1 of 4 prefixes ahead of 3 others; in 226, Bragg Communications Inc. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 519, Bell Canada leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; Fibernetics Corporation is the only holder in 548; Aliant Telecom (NS) is the only holder in 902. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Southampton’s 5 area codes, while 6 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Southampton’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 10 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Bragg Communications Inc, Fibernetics Corporation, Aliant Telecom (NS) and Bell Canada. A call showing a Southampton number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Southampton’s dated assignments run from 2006 to 2021. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 3 prefixes went to 3 carriers. 2 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 3 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Southampton’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Aliant Telecom (NS) and Bell Canada: these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Bruce Municipal Telephone System in 2006. The most recent arrivals are ISP Telecom Inc. (2021), Fibernetics Corporation (2021) and Distributel (2018), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Southampton.

Southampton has only 10 prefixes, or 100,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Southampton: the leader, Bragg Communications Inc., holds only 20.0% of the prefixes against 7 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.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Southampton number

Southampton is served by 5 overlaid area codes (782, 226, 519, 548 and 902). A 902 number is no more “out of town” than a 782 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Southampton shares area codes 782, 226, 519, 548 and 902 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Halifax, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Windsor, Guelph, Brantford, Charlottetown and Sarnia. The largest of them, Halifax, holds 220 prefixes in 782 and 902; the smallest on the list, Kentville, has just 25.

What a Southampton number tells you

A number attached to Southampton tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Nova Scotia, most often Bragg Communications Inc.. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 8 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 Nova Scotia area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Southampton: code 782-453 is recorded for Bragg Communications Inc., so every 782-453-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Southampton, Nova Scotia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Southampton prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 10 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Nova Scotia