Phone prefixes in Stony Plain, AB

In numbers

In-service prefixes

14

Telephone numbers covered

140,000

Carriers

8

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

April 17, 2008

Most recent assignment

May 13, 2024

Stony Plain’s share of its area codes

Within area code 587, Stony Plain accounts for only 6 of 779 prefixes (0.8%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 137 rate centres. Within area code 780, Stony Plain accounts for only 4 of 780 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by Edmonton and spread over 195 rate centres. Within area code 825, Stony Plain accounts for only 4 of 769 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 301 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds the largest share at 4 prefixes, 28.6% of the total, ahead of 7 other carriers. Code by code: in 587, TELUS leads with 1 of 6 prefixes ahead of 5 others; in 780, TELUS leads with 3 of 4 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 825, Iristel Inc. leads with 2 of 4 prefixes ahead of 1 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Stony Plain’s 3 area codes, while 6 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Stony Plain’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 14 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them TELUS, Iristel Inc, Videotron Ltd and Bell West Inc. A call showing a Stony Plain number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Stony Plain’s dated assignments run from 2008 to 2024. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 4 prefixes went to 4 carriers. 2 prefixes (14%) 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.

Stony Plain’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to TELUS: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to TELUS in 2008. The most recent arrivals are Videotron Ltd. (2024), Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) (2017) and Distributel (2016), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Stony Plain.

Stony Plain has only 14 prefixes, or 140,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Stony Plain: the leader, TELUS, holds only 28.6% of the prefixes against 7 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: 33.3% 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.

The register also shows 1 prefix assigned but not yet in service in Stony Plain (Fibernetics Corporation): numbers that will start showing up on call displays in the coming months.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Stony Plain number

Stony Plain is served by 3 overlaid area codes (587, 780 and 825). A 825 number is no more “out of town” than a 587 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Stony Plain shares area codes 587, 780 and 825 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Sherwood Park and Peace River. The largest of them, Edmonton, holds 489 prefixes in 587, 780 and 825; the smallest on the list, High Level, has just 16.

What a Stony Plain number tells you

A number attached to Stony Plain tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Alberta, most often TELUS. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 8 carriers present here or to a VoIP service usable anywhere. Nor does it tell you who is calling: caller ID can be spoofed, and an Alberta area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Stony Plain: code 587-250 is recorded for TELUS, so every 587-250-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Stony Plain, Alberta” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Stony Plain prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 14 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Alberta