GATINEAU — Another area code region in Ontario is in a jeopardy condition due to the fact the projected exhaust date for phone numbers in the 249/705 area code has advanced by 20 months, according to a recent CRTC letter citing the Canadian Numbering Administrator’s (CNA) January 2021 numbering resource forecast report.
Area codes 705 and 249 cover most of northeastern and central Ontario, including the communities of Alliston, Barrie, Bracebridge, Collingwood, Huntsville, Midland, North Bay, Parry Sound, Peterborough, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and Timmins.
The CNA’s January 2021 Relief-Numbering Resource Utilization Forecast (R-NRUF) shows the projected exhaust date for the 249/705 area codes has advanced from December 2024 to April 2023, which is approximately 26 months from now. (The Commission has set aside area code 683 for future relief in this area of central and northeastern Ontario, but an implementation date for the new area code has not been determined yet and the relief implementation plan has not been completed.)
In its letter dated March 11, the Commission authorizes the CNA to activate what is called a jeopardy condition plan to address the problem.
As Cartt.ca reported earlier this month, the 343/613 area code region, covering the Ottawa area and eastern Ontario, is also in a jeopardy condition with the projected exhaust date for phone numbers there having advanced by 16 months to October 2022. At that time, representatives from CNA and the CRTC said IoT devices and services were one of the drivers of telephone number usage.
