Phone prefixes in Sussex, NB

In numbers

In-service prefixes

14

Telephone numbers covered

140,000

Carriers

11

Area codes

1

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

September 6, 2001

Most recent assignment

May 25, 2022

Sussex’s share of its area code

Within area code 506, Sussex accounts for only 14 of 677 prefixes (2.1%): the code is dominated by Moncton and spread over 88 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Aliant Telecom(NB) holds the largest share at 3 prefixes, 21.4% of the total, ahead of 10 other carriers. Code by code: in 506, Aliant Telecom(NB) leads with 3 of 14 prefixes ahead of 10 others.

Wireless and wireline

4 of Sussex’s 14 prefixes (28.6%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility Aliant, Fido Solutions Inc, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) and TELUS Mobility. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Aliant Telecom(NB), Iristel Inc, Bragg Communications Inc and Distributel. 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

Sussex’s dated assignments run from 2001 to 2022. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 3 prefixes went to 3 carriers. 3 prefixes (21%) 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.

Sussex’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Aliant Telecom(NB): this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) in 2001. The most recent arrivals are Distributel (2022), Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (2019) and Bragg Communications Inc. (2018), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Sussex.

Sussex 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 Sussex: the leader, Aliant Telecom(NB), holds only 21.4% of the prefixes against 10 competitors, a sign of a highly fragmented market where cable companies, mobility brands and VoIP providers weigh as much as the incumbent.

Allocation is mature: only 18.2% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2005–2009, and 3 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Sussex numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

3 undated in the register.

Dialling a Sussex number

A single area code, 506, covers Sussex, and it is not overlaid with any other code on this territory: one of the few parts of Canada where seven-digit local dialling may still work. From abroad, dial +1 506 and the seven-digit number.

The numbering neighbourhood

Sussex shares area code 506 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Moncton, Saint John, Fredericton, Miramichi, Bathurst, Edmundston, Campbellton and Tracadie. The largest of them, Moncton, holds 79 prefixes in 506; the smallest on the list, Sackville, has just 9.

What a Sussex number tells you

A number attached to Sussex tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in New Brunswick, most often Aliant Telecom(NB). It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 11 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 New Brunswick area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Sussex: code 506-432 is recorded for Aliant Telecom(NB), so every 506-432-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Sussex, New Brunswick” there names a rate centre, not a municipality.

Every Sussex prefix

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

Had a call from a Sussex number?

No clear pattern in reports on these numbers yet. If a call worried you:

1. Call back on a number you trust

   If a caller says they are your bank, the Canada Revenue Agency, a courier or your phone company, hang up and call the organization on the number from its website or your statement, never the number that called you. Caller ID can be faked.

2. Report the fraud

   Report the call or text to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online or at 1-888-495-8501. If you lost money or gave out personal details, tell your bank first, then your local police.

   Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre ↗

3. Register on the National Do Not Call List

   Registering a landline or mobile on the National DNCL is free. Registered charities, political parties, newspapers and companies you already do business with may still call.

   National Do Not Call List ↗Who can still call you ↗

4. Forward suspicious texts to 7726

   Forward a scam or spam text to 7726 (SPAM on the keypad). It's free, and your carrier uses it to block the sender. Don't tap links or reply.

   Get Cyber Safe: forwarding to 7726 ↗

Allocated prefixes

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

Elsewhere in New Brunswick