Phone prefixes in Springfield

In numbers

In-service prefixes

5

Telephone numbers covered

50,000

Carriers

4

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

2

First assignment

April 24, 2018

Most recent assignment

May 24, 2022

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 — 3 prefixes
• New Brunswick — 2 prefixes

Springfield’s share of its area codes

Within area code 506, Springfield accounts for only 2 of 677 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Moncton and spread over 88 rate centres. Within area code 782, Springfield accounts for only 2 of 456 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 142 rate centres. Within area code 902, Springfield 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

Distributel holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 40.0% of the total, ahead of 3 other carriers. Code by code: in 506, Distributel leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 782, Distributel leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; Aliant Telecom (NS) is the only holder in 902. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Springfield’s 3 area codes, while 3 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Springfield’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 5 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Distributel, Aliant Telecom (NS), Aliant Telecom(NB) and Fibernetics Corporation. A call showing a Springfield number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Springfield’s dated assignments run from 2018 to 2022. The busiest period was 2020–2024, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 2 prefixes (40%) 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.

Springfield’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Aliant Telecom (NS) and Aliant Telecom(NB): these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Distributel in 2018. The most recent arrivals are Fibernetics Corporation (2020) and Distributel (2018), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Springfield.

Springfield 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.

Distributel leads with 40.0% of the prefixes, but 3 competitors have set up in Springfield: a market where the incumbent keeps the edge without exclusivity.

Growth is recent: 66.7% of the dated prefixes were assigned in the last ten years, peaking in 2020–2024. Springfield is among the rate centres where demand for numbers is still rising quickly.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Springfield number

Springfield is served by 3 overlaid area codes (506, 782 and 902). A 902 number is no more “out of town” than a 506 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Springfield shares area codes 506, 782 and 902 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Halifax, Moncton, Saint John, Fredericton, Charlottetown, Sydney, Truro and Miramichi. The largest of them, Halifax, holds 220 prefixes in 782 and 902; the smallest on the list, Campbellton, has just 16.

What a Springfield number tells you

A number attached to Springfield tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Nova Scotia, most often Distributel. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 4 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 Springfield: code 506-413 is recorded for Distributel, so every 506-413-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Springfield, Nova Scotia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Springfield prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

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

Elsewhere in Nova Scotia