Phone prefixes in Wainwright, AB

In numbers

In-service prefixes

13

Telephone numbers covered

130,000

Carriers

8

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

April 2, 2003

Most recent assignment

April 15, 2024

Wainwright’s share of its area codes

Within area code 780, Wainwright accounts for only 7 of 780 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Edmonton and spread over 195 rate centres. Within area code 587, Wainwright accounts for only 4 of 779 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 137 rate centres. Within area code 825, Wainwright accounts for only 2 of 769 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 301 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Iristel Inc. holds the largest share at 3 prefixes, 23.1% of the total, ahead of 7 other carriers. Code by code: in 780, TELUS leads with 3 of 7 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 587, Iristel Inc. leads with 1 of 4 prefixes ahead of 3 others; Iristel Inc. is the only holder in 825. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Wainwright’s 3 area codes, while 6 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

5 of Wainwright’s 13 prefixes (38.5%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless), Bell Mobility, Fido Solutions Inc and TELUS Mobility. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Iristel Inc, TELUS, 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

Wainwright’s dated assignments run from 2003 to 2024. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 4 prefixes went to 4 carriers. 2 prefixes (15%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 1 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Wainwright’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 Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) in 2003. The most recent arrivals are Iristel Inc. (2016), Distributel (2011) and Bragg Communications Inc. (2011), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Wainwright.

Wainwright has only 13 prefixes, or 130,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Wainwright: the leader, Iristel Inc., holds only 23.1% 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.

Allocation is mature: only 9.1% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2005–2009, and 2 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Wainwright numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Wainwright number

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

The numbering neighbourhood

Wainwright shares area codes 780, 587 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 Wainwright number tells you

A number attached to Wainwright tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Alberta, most often Iristel Inc.. 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 Wainwright: code 587-607 is recorded for Iristel Inc., so every 587-607-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Wainwright, Alberta” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Wainwright prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 13 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Alberta