Phone prefixes in West Guilford, ON

In numbers

In-service prefixes

3

Telephone numbers covered

30,000

Carriers

3

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

February 21, 2003

Most recent assignment

April 19, 2013

West Guilford’s share of its area codes

Within area code 705, West Guilford accounts for only 2 of 770 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Barrie and spread over 203 rate centres. Within area code 249, West Guilford accounts for only 1 of 585 prefixes (0.2%): the code is dominated by Sudbury and spread over 176 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bell Canada holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 33.3% of the total, ahead of 2 other carriers. Code by code: in 705, Bell Canada leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; Fido Solutions Inc. is the only holder in 249. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of West Guilford’s 2 area codes, while 3 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

2 of West Guilford’s 3 prefixes (66.7%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Fido Solutions Inc and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless). That makes this a mostly mobile rate centre, which is typical of recent allocations: new prefixes go overwhelmingly to cellphones. 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

West Guilford’s dated assignments run from 2003 to 2013. The busiest period was 2000–2004, when 1 prefixes went to 1 carrier. 1 prefixes (33%) 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 West Guilford is flat.

West Guilford’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 Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) in 2003. The most recent arrivals are Fido Solutions Inc. (2013) and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) (2003), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in West Guilford.

West Guilford has just 3 prefixes (30,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates West Guilford: the leader, Bell Canada, holds only 33.3% of the prefixes against 2 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 2000–2004, and 1 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New West Guilford numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a West Guilford number

West Guilford is served by 2 overlaid area codes (705 and 249). A 249 number is no more “out of town” than a 705 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

West Guilford shares area codes 705 and 249 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Barrie, Sudbury, Peterborough, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay, Huntsville, Collingwood and Lindsay. The largest of them, Barrie, holds 92 prefixes in 249 and 705; the smallest on the list, Kirkland Lake, has just 12.

What a West Guilford number tells you

A number attached to West Guilford tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Ontario, most often Bell Canada. It does not tell you where the handset is today: most of West Guilford’s prefixes are mobile, and a cellphone keeps its number when its owner moves across the country. Nor does it tell you who is calling: caller ID can be spoofed, and an Ontario area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for West Guilford: code 705-754 is recorded for Bell Canada, so every 705-754-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “West Guilford, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every West Guilford prefix

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

Had a call from a West Guilford number?

No clear pattern in reports on these numbers yet. If a call worried you:

1. Call back on a number you trust

   If a caller says they are your bank, the Canada Revenue Agency, a courier or your phone company, hang up and call the organization on the number from its website or your statement, never the number that called you. Caller ID can be faked.

2. Report the fraud

   Report the call or text to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online or at 1-888-495-8501. If you lost money or gave out personal details, tell your bank first, then your local police.

   Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre ↗

3. Register on the National Do Not Call List

   Registering a landline or mobile on the National DNCL is free. Registered charities, political parties, newspapers and companies you already do business with may still call.

   National Do Not Call List ↗Who can still call you ↗

4. Forward suspicious texts to 7726

   Forward a scam or spam text to 7726 (SPAM on the keypad). It's free, and your carrier uses it to block the sender. Don't tap links or reply.

   Get Cyber Safe: forwarding to 7726 ↗

Allocated prefixes

All 3 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario