Phone prefixes in Wetaskiwin, AB

In numbers

In-service prefixes

16

Telephone numbers covered

160,000

Carriers

9

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

June 19, 2000

Most recent assignment

October 15, 2025

Wetaskiwin’s share of its area codes

Within area code 780, Wetaskiwin accounts for only 9 of 780 prefixes (1.2%): the code is dominated by Edmonton and spread over 195 rate centres. Within area code 587, Wetaskiwin 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, Wetaskiwin accounts for only 3 of 769 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 301 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds the largest share at 5 prefixes, 31.3% of the total, ahead of 8 other carriers. Code by code: in 780, TELUS leads with 4 of 9 prefixes ahead of 5 others; in 587, TELUS 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 Wetaskiwin’s 3 area codes, while 7 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

4 of Wetaskiwin’s 16 prefixes (25.0%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility, Fido Solutions Inc, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) and TELUS Mobility. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by TELUS, Iristel Inc, 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

Wetaskiwin’s dated assignments run from 2000 to 2025. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 4 prefixes went to 4 carriers. 3 prefixes (19%) 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.

Wetaskiwin’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 2000. The most recent arrivals are Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) (2017), Iristel Inc. (2017) and Distributel (2013), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Wetaskiwin.

Wetaskiwin has only 16 prefixes, or 160,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Wetaskiwin: the leader, TELUS, holds only 31.3% of the prefixes against 8 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 15.4% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2005–2009, and 3 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Wetaskiwin numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

3 undated in the register.

Dialling a Wetaskiwin number

Wetaskiwin 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

Wetaskiwin 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 Wetaskiwin number tells you

A number attached to Wetaskiwin tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Alberta, most often TELUS. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 9 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 Wetaskiwin: code 780-312 is recorded for TELUS, so every 780-312-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Wetaskiwin, Alberta” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Wetaskiwin prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 16 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Alberta