Phone prefixes in Vulcan, AB

In numbers

In-service prefixes

14

Telephone numbers covered

140,000

Carriers

11

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

May 22, 2003

Most recent assignment

February 16, 2023

Vulcan’s share of its area codes

Within area code 587, Vulcan accounts for only 6 of 779 prefixes (0.8%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 137 rate centres. Within area code 403, Vulcan accounts for only 4 of 781 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 142 rate centres. Within area code 825, Vulcan 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

Distributel holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 14.3% of the total, ahead of 10 other carriers. Code by code: in 587, Distributel leads with 2 of 6 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 403, TELUS leads with 2 of 4 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 825, Iristel Inc. leads with 1 of 4 prefixes ahead of 3 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Vulcan’s 3 area codes, while 10 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

3 of Vulcan’s 14 prefixes (21.4%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) and TELUS Mobility. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Distributel, Iristel Inc, TELUS and Bell West 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

Vulcan’s dated assignments run from 2003 to 2023. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 4 prefixes went to 4 carriers. 1 prefixes (7%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 3 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Vulcan’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 2003. The most recent arrivals are Fibernetics Corporation (2023), ISP Telecom Inc. (2022) and Bell West Inc. (2019), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Vulcan.

Vulcan 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 Vulcan: the leader, Distributel, holds only 14.3% 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.

Demand remains steady: 23.1% 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.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Vulcan number

Vulcan is served by 3 overlaid area codes (587, 403 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

Vulcan shares area codes 587, 403 and 825 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Fort McMurray, High River and Banff. The largest of them, Calgary, holds 711 prefixes in 403, 587 and 825; the smallest on the list, Stettler, has just 15.

What a Vulcan number tells you

A number attached to Vulcan tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Alberta, most often Distributel. 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 an Alberta area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Vulcan: code 587-567 is recorded for Distributel, so every 587-567-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Vulcan, Alberta” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Vulcan prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

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

Elsewhere in Alberta