Phone prefixes in Wembley, AB

Wembley, AB is a rate centre in the Canadian numbering plan. CNAC records 4 in-service prefixes there, held by 4 carriers and spread across 2 area codes (780, 825). With 4 prefixes, Wembley is a small rate centre within Alberta: 116th of 337, holding 0.1% of the province’s prefixes, and 1279th of 2,921 rate centres across Canada.

Background reading: Canadian area codes, overlays, and what a 416 number actually tells you · Caller ID spoofing, STIR/SHAKEN, and how to actually block calls in Canada

In numbers

In-service prefixes
4
Telephone numbers covered
40,000
Carriers
4
Area codes
2
Provinces and territories
1
First assignment
April 9, 2007
Most recent assignment
May 17, 2018

Wembley’s share of its area codes

Within area code 780, Wembley accounts for only 3 of 780 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Edmonton and spread over 195 rate centres. Within area code 825, Wembley accounts for only 1 of 769 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 301 rate centres.

Area codesPrefixes herePrefixes in codeShareRangeLargest rate centre
78037800.4 %780-344780-766Edmonton
82517690.1 %825-283825-283Calgary

Who holds these numbers

Bragg Communications Inc. holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 25.0% of the total, ahead of 3 other carriers. Code by code: in 780, Bragg Communications Inc. leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others; Distributel is the only holder in 825. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Wembley’s 2 area codes, while 4 appear in just one.

Carrier780825Total
Bragg Communications Inc.11
Distributel11
TELUS11
Zayo Canada Inc.11

Wireless and wireline

None of Wembley’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 4 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Bragg Communications Inc, Distributel, TELUS and Zayo Canada Inc. A call showing a Wembley number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Wembley’s dated assignments run from 2007 to 2018. 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 Wembley is flat.

Wembley’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 Zayo Canada Inc. in 2007. The most recent arrivals are Distributel (2018), Bragg Communications Inc. (2009) and Zayo Canada Inc. (2007), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Wembley.

Wembley 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 Wembley: the leader, Bragg Communications Inc., 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 Wembley numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

The register also shows 1 prefix assigned but not yet in service in Wembley (Bragg Communications Inc): numbers that will start showing up on call displays in the coming months.

PeriodPrefixesCarriers
2005–200922
2015–201911

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Wembley number

Wembley is served by 2 overlaid area codes (780 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

Wembley shares area codes 780 and 825 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Fox Creek, Peace River, St. Albert and Sherwood Park. The largest of them, Edmonton, holds 365 prefixes in 780 and 825; the smallest on the list, High River, has just 9.

Rate centreProvinceShared codesPrefixesCarriers
EdmontonAB780, 82536517
CalgaryAB82514615
Fort McMurrayAB780, 825358
Grande PrairieAB780, 8253310
Fox CreekAB780, 825209
Peace RiverAB780, 825186
St. AlbertAB780, 825176
Sherwood ParkAB780, 825155
Drayton ValleyAB780, 825147
LloydminsterAB780, 825146
CamroseAB780, 825137
EdsonAB780, 825137
BonnyvilleAB780, 825126
WetaskiwinAB780, 825127
High LevelAB780, 825115
LeducAB780, 825115
Red DeerAB825116
St. PaulAB780, 825117
LethbridgeAB825106
High RiverAB82595

What a Wembley number tells you

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

Reading a register entry for Wembley: code 780-541 is recorded for Bragg Communications Inc., so every 780-541-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Wembley, Alberta” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Wembley prefix

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

PrefixCarrierAssigned
780-344Zayo Canada Inc.2007
780-541Bragg Communications Inc.2009
780-766TELUSundated
825-283Distributel2018

Frequently asked

What is the area code for Wembley?

Wembley does not have one area code but 2: 780 and 825. The best-stocked is 780. All are dialled with ten digits and none is “more local” than another.

Is a call from Wembley a cellphone or a landline?

More likely a landline or a VoIP service: mobility brands hold only 0.0% of Wembley’s prefixes.

Which carrier is behind a Wembley number?

In the register, Bragg Communications Inc. holds the most prefixes in Wembley (1 of 4), ahead of 3 other carriers. Code 780-541, for instance, belongs to Bragg Communications Inc..

Is this Wembley number a scam?

The register cannot say: it records who a prefix was issued to, not who is calling. Search the full number above to see the reports filed against it.

What is the newest prefix in Wembley?

The latest code brought into service is 825-283, assigned to Distributel on May 17, 2018. At the other end, the oldest dated prefix, 780-344, goes to Zayo Canada Inc. (April 9, 2007). A number in a recent prefix almost always belongs to a subscriber who signed up after that date.

Allocated prefixes

All 4 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Wembley, AB

780-344 · 780-541 · 780-766 · 825-283

Elsewhere in Alberta

Rate centreProvincePrefixesCarriers
Medicine HatAB4413
BanffAB3113
CanmoreAB2613
AirdrieAB2310
StrathmoreAB2212
BrooksAB199

Allocation source: Canadian Numbering Administrator (CNAC), the registry that records which carrier a central-office code was originally issued to. An allocation says who was issued the prefix, not who serves the number today: numbers can be ported between carriers, and caller ID can be spoofed outright.