Area codes 819 and 873 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for central and western Quebec, Canada, including the Quebec portion of the National Capital Region, and the Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay coastlines of Quebec. Major cities in the territory include Gatineau, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières, Drummondville, Shawinigan, Victoriaville, Rouyn-Noranda, Val-d'Or, Magog and Mont-Laurier. The incumbent local exchange carriers in 819/873 are Bell Canada, Bell Aliant, Telus, as well as Télébec and other independent companies. From 1992 to 1997, Northwestel was also an incumbent carrier in 819, as it included former Bell Canada areas in the Northwest Territories. Area code 468 is reserved as a third area code in the region. History Ontario and Quebec were the only Canadian provinces that received assignments of multiple area codes by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) when the original North American area codes were created in 1947. The eastern part of Quebec received area code 418, while the western part, from the US border to Hudson Strait, was assigned area code 514. In a 1957 flash cut of the 514 numbering plan area, it was split into three segments. The southern region (including Montreal) retained 514; the middle region received 819, and the northern region, which had no telephone services, was added to 418. Area code 819 thus bordered area code 613 and the new area code 705 in Ontario, area code 418 in the east and the north of Quebec, and the remainder of area code 514 in the south of Quebec. When telephone service was introduced in the eastern Northwest Territories, most of which is now the territory of Nunavut, created in 1999, in Frobisher Bay in 1958, Bell Canada nominally made it part of area code 418. In the 1960s and the 1970s, telephone service was introduced by Bell Canada at other locations in the eastern Northwest Territories and in locations along the Quebec Arctic coastline, as well as by Sotel, an independent company, in the James Bay region. Those non-diallable locations also became part of area code 418. In the late 1970s, the northern parts of area code 418 served by Sotel and Bell along James, Hudson and Ungava Bays and Hudson Strait, as well as the eastern Northwest Territories, were assigned to area code 819 as exchanges in that area began to receive direct distance dialling. Thus, area code 819 now also