Phone prefixes in St-Nicolas, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

11

Telephone numbers covered

110,000

Carriers

5

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

December 30, 2004

Most recent assignment

July 11, 2023

St-Nicolas’s share of its area codes

Within area code 418, St-Nicolas accounts for only 6 of 777 prefixes (0.8%): the code is dominated by Quebec and spread over 258 rate centres. Within area code 581, St-Nicolas accounts for only 3 of 778 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Quebec and spread over 232 rate centres. Within area code 367, St-Nicolas accounts for only 2 of 233 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Quebec and spread over 111 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS Quebec holds the largest share at 3 prefixes, 27.3% of the total, ahead of 4 other carriers. Code by code: in 418, Videotron Ltd. leads with 3 of 6 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 581, TELUS Quebec leads with 2 of 3 prefixes ahead of 1 others; Fibernetics Corporation is the only holder in 367. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of St-Nicolas’s 3 area codes, while 4 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of St-Nicolas’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 11 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them TELUS Quebec, Videotron Ltd, Bell Canada and Fibernetics Corporation. A call showing a St-Nicolas number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

St-Nicolas’s dated assignments run from 2004 to 2023. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 3 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 2 prefixes (18%) 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.

St-Nicolas’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 Videotron Ltd. in 2004. The most recent arrivals are Fibernetics Corporation (2021), Distributel (2018) and TELUS Quebec (2006), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in St-Nicolas.

St-Nicolas has only 11 prefixes, or 110,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates St-Nicolas: the leader, TELUS Quebec, holds only 27.3% 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: 22.2% 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.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a St-Nicolas number

St-Nicolas is served by 3 overlaid area codes (418, 581 and 367). A 367 number is no more “out of town” than a 418 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

St-Nicolas shares area codes 418, 581 and 367 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Quebec, Chicoutimi, Alma, Rimouski, Riviere-du-Loup, Thetford Mines, Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce and Levis. The largest of them, Quebec, holds 282 prefixes in 367, 418 and 581; the smallest on the list, Saint-Henri-de-Levis, has just 16.

What a St-Nicolas number tells you

A number attached to St-Nicolas tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Quebec, most often TELUS Quebec. 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 a Quebec area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for St-Nicolas: code 418-754 is recorded for TELUS Quebec, so every 418-754-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “St-Nicolas, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every St-Nicolas prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 11 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Quebec