Area codes 519, 226, 548, and 382 explained

Area codes 519, 226, 548, and 382 are overlay telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for most of southwestern Ontario.

Area code 519 was the initial code of the numbering plan area (NPA). It was created in 1953 from the western portion of area code 416 and the southwestern portion of 613. The numbering plan area is mostly bounded by area code 905, except for Simcoe County which is bordered by 705. Area code 226 was added to the numbering plan area in 2006, and 548 was added in 2015. In 2023, the overlay was expanded again with the addition of area code 382.

The primary incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) in the overlay complex is Bell Canada, with numerous other small independent companies that covered vast tracts of rural Ontario. Since competition for service was mandated in 1997, numerous competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) have also started serving the region.

History

Area code 519 was created in 1953 by a split of two numbering plan areas (NPAs), from the western portion of 416 and the southwestern portion of 613. In 1957, parts of 519 and 613 formed area code 705. An exhaustion study for area code 519 in the 1990s resulted in a recommendation to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to add a second area code, 226, to the numbering plan area. In 1992, an overlay relief plan was approved (Telecom Decision CRTC 2002-25). Although it primarily accepted the industry proposal, the CRTC required a permissive dialling period of four months, with consistent network announcements to consumers, instead of the proposed two-month period. On April 15, 2003, the committee recommended delaying the introduction of the 226 area code from February 19, 2005, to October 21, 2006, primarily as a result of updated forecasts of the exhaustion projections.

In a second overlay expansion, area code 548 was added to the overlay, effective June 4, 2015.[1]

Canadian Numbering Administrator (CNA) advised the CRTC on October 12, 2011, that based on the rate of expansion the numbering system would again be exhausted by January 2017. The CRTC in response developed a relief plan (Telecom Decision CRTC 2012-655) which set the framework for addressing the exhaustion and oversee the addition of an additional overlay number. Area code 382 was reserved as a fourth code for the region with an in-service date of June 17, 2023.[2]

The numbering plan area covers a wide area (over 36,000 km2), and no single municipality controlling a majority of the available numbers.

While the implementation of 548 had the effect of allocating a total of over 23 million numbers to a region of 2.6 million people, overlays have become the preferred method of relief in Canada and the United States. Canada does not use telephone number pooling as a relief measure. Each CLEC is allocated blocks of 10,000 numbers (corresponding to a single three-digit prefix) for every rate centre where it offers service, even in the smallest hamlets. While most rate centres do not need nearly that many numbers, once a central office code is allocated to a carrier and rate centre, it cannot be relocated.

Central office codes

See also

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: CRTC to introduce a new area code in southwestern Ontario in 2015. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 30 October 2013. 23 June 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160711104714/http://crtc.gc.ca/eng/com100/2013/r131030.htm#.UnE9w0ZzZH1. 11 July 2016. dead.
  2. Web site: NPA 382 to Overlay NPA 226/519/548 (southwestern Ontario). NANPA. 2022-02-25. 2023-06-14.

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