Phone prefixes in Yarrow, BC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

6

Telephone numbers covered

60,000

Carriers

6

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

November 1, 2007

Most recent assignment

July 7, 2022

Yarrow’s share of its area codes

Within area code 236, Yarrow accounts for only 3 of 730 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres. Within area code 604, Yarrow accounts for only 2 of 781 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 44 rate centres. Within area code 778, Yarrow 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

Bell West Inc. holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 16.7% of the total, ahead of 5 other carriers. Code by code: in 236, Distributel leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 604, Shaw Telecom Inc. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; Bell West Inc. is the only holder in 778. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Yarrow’s 3 area codes, while 6 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Yarrow’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 6 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Bell West Inc, Distributel, Fibernetics Corporation and ISP Telecom Inc. A call showing a Yarrow number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Yarrow’s dated assignments run from 2007 to 2022. The busiest period was 2020–2024, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 1 prefixes (17%) 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.

Yarrow’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 2007. The most recent arrivals are Fibernetics Corporation (2022), ISP Telecom Inc. (2022) and Distributel (2016), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Yarrow.

Yarrow has just 6 prefixes (60,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Yarrow: the leader, Bell West Inc., holds only 16.7% of the prefixes against 5 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: 40.0% 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 Yarrow number

Yarrow is served by 3 overlaid area codes (236, 604 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

Yarrow shares area codes 236, 604 and 778 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, New Westminster, Richmond, Abbotsford, Victoria, Aldergrove, North Vancouver and Newton. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 657 prefixes in 236, 604 and 778; the smallest on the list, Nanaimo, has just 19.

What a Yarrow number tells you

A number attached to Yarrow tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in British Columbia, most often Bell West Inc.. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 6 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 Yarrow: code 778-286 is recorded for Bell West Inc., so every 778-286-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Yarrow, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Yarrow prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 6 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia