Phone prefixes in Winona, ON

In numbers

In-service prefixes

11

Telephone numbers covered

110,000

Carriers

9

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

September 14, 2007

Most recent assignment

August 9, 2023

Winona’s share of its area codes

Within area code 365, Winona accounts for only 7 of 702 prefixes (1.0%): the code is dominated by Markham and spread over 88 rate centres. Within area code 289, Winona accounts for only 3 of 772 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Hamilton and spread over 87 rate centres. Within area code 905, Winona accounts for only 1 of 773 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Hamilton and spread over 94 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bell Canada holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 18.2% of the total, ahead of 8 other carriers. Code by code: in 365, Fibernetics Corporation leads with 2 of 7 prefixes ahead of 5 others; in 289, Bell Canada leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others; Bell Canada is the only holder in 905. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Winona’s 3 area codes, while 8 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Winona’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 11 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Bell Canada, Fibernetics Corporation, Beanfield Technologies Inc and Distributel. A call showing a Winona number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Winona’s dated assignments run from 2007 to 2023. The busiest period was 2020–2024, when 5 prefixes went to 4 carriers. 1 prefixes (9%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 5 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Winona’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 Bell Canada in 2007. The most recent arrivals are Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) (2021), Fibernetics Corporation (2021) and Beanfield Technologies Inc. (2021), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Winona.

Winona has only 11 prefixes, or 110,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Winona: the leader, Bell Canada, holds only 18.2% 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.

Growth is recent: 50.0% of the dated prefixes were assigned in the last ten years, peaking in 2020–2024. Winona is among the rate centres where demand for numbers is still rising quickly.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Winona number

Winona is served by 3 overlaid area codes (365, 289 and 905). A 905 number is no more “out of town” than a 365 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Winona shares area codes 365, 289 and 905 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Hamilton, Oshawa, Brampton, St. Catharines-Thorold, Oakville, Markham, Cooksville and Ajax-Pickering. The largest of them, Hamilton, holds 213 prefixes in 289, 365 and 905; the smallest on the list, Woodbridge, has just 28.

What a Winona number tells you

A number attached to Winona 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: 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 Ontario area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Winona: code 289-649 is recorded for Bell Canada, so every 289-649-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Winona, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Winona prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 11 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario