Phone prefixes in Tumbler Ridge, BC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

4

Telephone numbers covered

40,000

Carriers

4

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

July 4, 2007

Most recent assignment

May 2, 2016

Tumbler Ridge’s share of its area codes

Within area code 250, Tumbler Ridge accounts for only 3 of 781 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Victoria and spread over 268 rate centres. Within area code 236, Tumbler Ridge accounts for only 1 of 745 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bell Mobility holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 25.0% of the total, ahead of 3 other carriers. Code by code: in 250, Bell Mobility leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others; Distributel is the only holder in 236. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Tumbler Ridge’s 2 area codes, while 4 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

2 of Tumbler Ridge’s 4 prefixes (50.0%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility and TELUS Mobility. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Distributel and TELUS. 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

Tumbler Ridge’s dated assignments run from 2007 to 2016. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 1 prefixes (25%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. No prefix has been added since 2020: demand for numbers in Tumbler Ridge is flat.

Tumbler Ridge’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 Bell Mobility in 2007. The most recent arrivals are Distributel (2016), TELUS Mobility (2007) and Bell Mobility (2007), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Tumbler Ridge.

Tumbler Ridge has just 4 prefixes (40,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Tumbler Ridge: the leader, Bell Mobility, holds only 25.0% of the prefixes against 3 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 0.0% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2005–2009, and 1 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Tumbler Ridge numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Tumbler Ridge number

Tumbler Ridge is served by 2 overlaid area codes (250 and 236). A 236 number is no more “out of town” than a 250 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Tumbler Ridge shares area codes 250 and 236 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, Nanaimo, South Kamloops, Prince George, Vernon and Penticton. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 142 prefixes in 236; the smallest on the list, Williams Lake, has just 12.

What a Tumbler Ridge number tells you

A number attached to Tumbler Ridge tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in British Columbia, most often Bell Mobility. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 4 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 British Columbia area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Tumbler Ridge: code 250-623 is recorded for Bell Mobility, so every 250-623-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Tumbler Ridge prefix

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

Had a call from a Tumbler Ridge 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 4 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia