Phone prefixes in Waterville, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

5

Telephone numbers covered

50,000

Carriers

3

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

March 24, 2005

Most recent assignment

May 14, 2025

Waterville’s share of its area codes

Within area code 819, Waterville 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 873, Waterville accounts for only 2 of 667 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Sherbrooke and spread over 162 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Videotron Ltd. holds the largest share at 3 prefixes, 60.0% of the total, ahead of 2 other carriers. Code by code: in 819, Videotron Ltd. leads with 2 of 3 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 873, Videotron Ltd. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others. 1 carrier holds prefixes in every one of Waterville’s 2 area codes, while 2 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Waterville’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 5 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Videotron Ltd, Bell Canada and TELUS Quebec. A call showing a Waterville number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Waterville’s dated assignments run from 2005 to 2025. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 2 prefixes went to 1 carrier. 1 prefixes (20%) 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.

Waterville’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 Videotron Ltd. in 2005. The most recent arrivals are TELUS Quebec (2025) and Videotron Ltd. (2005), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Waterville.

Waterville has just 5 prefixes (50,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

Videotron Ltd. leads with 60.0% of the prefixes, but 2 competitors have set up in Waterville: a market where the incumbent keeps the edge without exclusivity.

Demand remains steady: 25.0% of the dated prefixes go back to the last ten years, the most active period being 2005–2009. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Waterville number

Waterville is served by 2 overlaid area codes (819 and 873). A 873 number is no more “out of town” than a 819 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Waterville shares area codes 819 and 873 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Ottawa-Hull, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivieres, Drummondville, Gatineau, Victoriaville, Val-D'Or and Maniwaki. The largest of them, Ottawa-Hull, holds 119 prefixes in 819 and 873; the smallest on the list, Ville-Marie, has just 12.

What a Waterville number tells you

A number attached to Waterville tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Quebec, most often Videotron Ltd.. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 3 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 Waterville: code 819-408 is recorded for Videotron Ltd., so every 819-408-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Waterville, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Waterville prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 5 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Quebec