Phone prefixes in St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.), QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

8

Telephone numbers covered

80,000

Carriers

7

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

April 30, 2014

Most recent assignment

November 16, 2021

St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.)’s share of its area codes

Within area code 873, St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.) 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, St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.) accounts for only 2 of 770 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 211 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Videotron Ltd. holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 25.0% 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, 9164-3122 Quebec inc leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.)’s 2 area codes, while 7 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.)’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 8 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Videotron Ltd, 9164-3122 Quebec inc, Bell Canada and Distributel. A call showing a St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.) number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.)’s dated assignments run from 2014 to 2021. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 4 prefixes went to 3 carriers. 1 prefixes (13%) 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-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.)’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 9164-3122 Quebec inc in 2014. The most recent arrivals are IXICA Communications Inc. (2021), Fibernetics Corporation (2021) and TELUS Quebec (2018), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.).

St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.) has just 8 prefixes (80,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.): the leader, Videotron Ltd., holds only 25.0% 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: 28.6% 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 St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.) number

St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.) is served by 2 overlaid area codes (873 and 819). A 819 number is no more “out of town” than a 873 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.) shares area codes 873 and 819 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Ottawa-Hull, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivieres, Drummondville, Gatineau, Victoriaville, Val-D'Or and Maniwaki. The largest of them, Ottawa-Hull, holds 119 prefixes in 819 and 873; the smallest on the list, Ville-Marie, has just 12.

What a St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.) number tells you

A number attached to St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.) tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Quebec, most often Videotron Ltd.. 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 St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.): code 873-546 is recorded for Videotron Ltd., so every 873-546-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.), Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.) prefix

Each row is an in-service central-office code recorded for St-Sebastien (Frontenac Co.), with its original holder and year of assignment.

Allocated prefixes

All 8 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Quebec