Phone prefixes in Whonnock, BC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

9

Telephone numbers covered

90,000

Carriers

7

Area codes

4

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

February 21, 2008

Most recent assignment

September 14, 2021

Whonnock’s share of its area codes

Within area code 236, Whonnock accounts for only 4 of 730 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres. Within area code 604, Whonnock accounts for only 3 of 781 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 44 rate centres. Within area code 672, Whonnock accounts for only 1 of 320 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 108 rate centres. Within area code 778, Whonnock accounts for only 1 of 779 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 159 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Shaw Telecom Inc. holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 22.2% of the total, ahead of 6 other carriers. Code by code: in 236, TELUS leads with 1 of 4 prefixes ahead of 3 others; in 604, Shaw Telecom Inc. leads with 2 of 3 prefixes ahead of 1 others; Fibernetics Corporation is the only holder in 672; Distributel is the only holder in 778. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Whonnock’s 4 area codes, while 6 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Whonnock’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 9 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Shaw Telecom Inc, TELUS, Comwave Networks and Distributel. A call showing a Whonnock number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Whonnock’s dated assignments run from 2008 to 2021. The busiest period was 2020–2024, when 3 prefixes went to 3 carriers. 1 prefixes (11%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 3 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Whonnock’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 Shaw Telecom Inc. in 2008. The most recent arrivals are ISP Telecom Inc. (2021), Fibernetics Corporation (2020) and TELUS (2020), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Whonnock.

Whonnock has just 9 prefixes (90,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Whonnock: the leader, Shaw Telecom Inc., holds only 22.2% 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: 37.5% of the dated prefixes go back to the last ten years, the most active period being 2020–2024. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Whonnock number

Whonnock is served by 4 overlaid area codes (236, 604, 672 and 778). A 778 number is no more “out of town” than a 236 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Whonnock shares area codes 236, 604, 672 and 778 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, New Westminster, Abbotsford, Victoria, Richmond, North Vancouver, Aldergrove and Newton. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 740 prefixes in 236, 604, 672 and 778; the smallest on the list, Nanaimo, has just 22.

What a Whonnock number tells you

A number attached to Whonnock tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in British Columbia, most often Shaw Telecom Inc.. 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 British Columbia area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Whonnock: code 604-405 is recorded for Shaw Telecom Inc., so every 604-405-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Whonnock, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Whonnock prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 9 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia