Phone prefixes in Steinbach, MB

In numbers

In-service prefixes

24

Telephone numbers covered

240,000

Carriers

10

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

November 4, 1999

Most recent assignment

November 28, 2022

Steinbach’s share of its area codes

Within area code 204, Steinbach accounts for only 17 of 781 prefixes (2.2%): the code is dominated by Winnipeg and spread over 245 rate centres. Within area code 431, Steinbach accounts for only 7 of 571 prefixes (1.2%): the code is dominated by Winnipeg and spread over 146 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

MTS Inc. holds the largest share at 9 prefixes, 37.5% of the total, ahead of 9 other carriers. Code by code: in 204, MTS Inc. leads with 8 of 17 prefixes ahead of 8 others; in 431, TELUS Mobility leads with 2 of 7 prefixes ahead of 4 others. 4 carriers hold prefixes in every one of Steinbach’s 2 area codes, while 6 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

9 of Steinbach’s 24 prefixes (37.5%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: TELUS Mobility, Bell Mobility, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) and Fido Solutions Inc. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by MTS Inc, Bell West Inc, Comwave Networks and LES.NET (1996) Inc. This is a sort by name, not a licence lookup, and a mobile prefix may have been ported to another network since.

How the allocation was built up

Steinbach’s dated assignments run from 1999 to 2022. The busiest period was 2010–2014, when 6 prefixes went to 6 carriers. 4 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 4 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Steinbach’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to MTS Inc: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) in 1999. The most recent arrivals are Comwave Networks (2015), Bell West Inc. (2015) and TELUS Integrated Communications (2013), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Steinbach.

Steinbach has only 24 prefixes, or 240,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Steinbach: the leader, MTS Inc., holds only 37.5% of the prefixes against 9 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 2010–2014. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

4 undated in the register.

Dialling a Steinbach number

Steinbach is served by 2 overlaid area codes (204 and 431). A 431 number is no more “out of town” than a 204 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Steinbach shares area codes 204 and 431 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Winnipeg, Brandon, Portage La Prairie, Oakbank, Stonewall, Dauphin, Selkirk and Thompson. The largest of them, Winnipeg, holds 386 prefixes in 204 and 431; the smallest on the list, Austin, has just 9.

What a Steinbach number tells you

A number attached to Steinbach tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Manitoba, most often MTS Inc.. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 10 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 Manitoba area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Steinbach: code 204-320 is recorded for MTS Inc., so every 204-320-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Steinbach, Manitoba” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Steinbach prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 24 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Manitoba