Phone prefixes in Winfield

In numbers

In-service prefixes

7

Telephone numbers covered

70,000

Carriers

4

Area codes

5

Provinces and territories

2

First assignment

October 1, 2008

Most recent assignment

May 25, 2018

Provinces and territories

This name is used for separate rate centres in 2 provinces. The prefixes below share a name in the CNAC register but belong to different communities.

• British Columbia — 5 prefixes
• Alberta — 2 prefixes

Winfield’s share of its area codes

Within area code 236, Winfield accounts for only 2 of 730 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres. Within area code 778, Winfield accounts for only 2 of 779 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 159 rate centres. Within area code 250, Winfield accounts for only 1 of 781 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Victoria and spread over 268 rate centres. Within area code 780, Winfield accounts for only 1 of 780 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Edmonton and spread over 195 rate centres. Within area code 825, Winfield accounts for only 1 of 769 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 301 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds the largest share at 3 prefixes, 42.9% of the total, ahead of 3 other carriers. Code by code: in 236, TELUS leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 778, Bell West Inc. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; TELUS is the only holder in 250; TELUS is the only holder in 780; Distributel is the only holder in 825. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Winfield’s 5 area codes, while 2 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Winfield’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 7 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them TELUS, Distributel, Bell West Inc and Shaw Telecom Inc. A call showing a Winfield number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Winfield’s dated assignments run from 2008 to 2018. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 4 prefixes went to 3 carriers. 2 prefixes (29%) 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 Winfield is flat.

Winfield’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 TELUS (2018), Distributel (2016) and Bell West Inc. (2015), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Winfield.

Winfield has just 7 prefixes (70,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

TELUS leads with 42.9% of the prefixes, but 3 competitors have set up in Winfield: a market where the incumbent keeps the edge without exclusivity.

Allocation is mature: only 0.0% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2015–2019, and 2 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Winfield numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

2 undated in the register.

Dialling a Winfield number

Winfield is served by 5 overlaid area codes (236, 778, 250, 780 and 825). A 825 number is no more “out of town” than a 236 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Winfield shares area codes 236, 778, 250, 780 and 825 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Kelowna, New Westminster, Nanaimo and South Kamloops. The largest of them, Edmonton, holds 365 prefixes in 780 and 825; the smallest on the list, Newton, has just 23.

What a Winfield number tells you

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

Reading a register entry for Winfield: code 236-767 is recorded for TELUS, so every 236-767-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Winfield, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Winfield prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 7 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia