Phone prefixes in Wakefield, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

8

Telephone numbers covered

80,000

Carriers

7

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

August 10, 2012

Most recent assignment

May 19, 2023

Wakefield’s share of its area codes

Within area code 873, Wakefield accounts for only 4 of 667 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by Sherbrooke and spread over 162 rate centres. Within area code 819, Wakefield accounts for only 3 of 770 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 211 rate centres. Within area code 468, Wakefield accounts for only 1 of 67 prefixes (1.5%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 57 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bell Canada holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 25.0% of the total, ahead of 6 other carriers. Code by code: in 873, Distributel leads with 1 of 4 prefixes ahead of 3 others; in 819, Bell Canada leads with 2 of 3 prefixes ahead of 1 others; ISP Telecom Inc. is the only holder in 468. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Wakefield’s 3 area codes, while 7 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Wakefield’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 8 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Bell Canada, Distributel, Fibernetics Corporation and ISP Telecom Inc. A call showing a Wakefield number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Wakefield’s dated assignments run from 2012 to 2023. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 3 prefixes went to 3 carriers. 2 prefixes (25%) 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.

Wakefield’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to TELUS Quebec in 2012. The most recent arrivals are ISP Telecom Inc. (2023), Fibernetics Corporation (2021) and Distributel (2018), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Wakefield.

Wakefield has just 8 prefixes (80,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Wakefield: the leader, Bell Canada, holds only 25.0% of the prefixes against 6 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.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Wakefield number

Wakefield is served by 3 overlaid area codes (873, 819 and 468). A 468 number is no more “out of town” than a 873 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Wakefield shares area codes 873, 819 and 468 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Ottawa-Hull, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivieres, Drummondville, Victoriaville, Gatineau, Val-D'Or and Maniwaki. The largest of them, Ottawa-Hull, holds 122 prefixes in 468, 819 and 873; the smallest on the list, Ville-Marie, has just 12.

What a Wakefield number tells you

A number attached to Wakefield tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Quebec, most often Bell Canada. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 7 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 Quebec area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Wakefield: code 819-456 is recorded for Bell Canada, so every 819-456-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Wakefield, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Wakefield prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 8 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Quebec