Phone prefixes in St-Simon, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

6

Telephone numbers covered

60,000

Carriers

6

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

September 7, 2006

Most recent assignment

April 21, 2021

St-Simon’s share of its area codes

Within area code 450, St-Simon accounts for only 4 of 775 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by Granby and spread over 129 rate centres. Within area code 579, St-Simon accounts for only 2 of 644 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Granby and spread over 126 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

9164-3122 Quebec inc holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 16.7% of the total, ahead of 5 other carriers. Code by code: in 450, 9164-3122 Quebec inc leads with 1 of 4 prefixes ahead of 3 others; in 579, Cooptel leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of St-Simon’s 2 area codes, while 6 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of St-Simon’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 6 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them 9164-3122 Quebec inc, Cooptel, Groupe Maskatel Quebec LP and TELUS Quebec. A call showing a St-Simon number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

St-Simon’s dated assignments run from 2006 to 2021. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 1 prefixes (17%) 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.

St-Simon’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Telebec Ltee: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to 9164-3122 Quebec inc in 2006. The most recent arrivals are TELUS Quebec (2021), Cooptel (2019) and Telecommunications Xittel Inc (2011), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in St-Simon.

St-Simon has just 6 prefixes (60,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates St-Simon: the leader, 9164-3122 Quebec inc, holds only 16.7% of the prefixes against 5 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: 20.0% 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.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a St-Simon number

St-Simon is served by 2 overlaid area codes (450 and 579). A 579 number is no more “out of town” than a 450 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

St-Simon shares area codes 450 and 579 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Granby, Joliette, St-Jerome, St-Hyacinthe, Longueuil, Ste-Therese, Pont-Viau and Sorel. The largest of them, Granby, holds 51 prefixes in 450 and 579; the smallest on the list, Lachute, has just 17.

What a St-Simon number tells you

A number attached to St-Simon tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Quebec, most often 9164-3122 Quebec inc. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 6 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-Simon: code 450-380 is recorded for 9164-3122 Quebec inc, so every 450-380-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “St-Simon, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every St-Simon prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 6 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Quebec