Carrier networks buy blocks of numbers assigned by the North American Numbering Plan administration that they allocate to customers who sign up for cell phone service or a SIM-only deal. The cell phone number is programmed into the SIM card that slots into the phone, so the cell number is unique to the SIM card rather than the actual phone handset. Most people don’t need to know the network behind a cell number, but this information can be useful if you want to complain to the carrier about spam texts or abusive messages that you’ve received from a specific number. You can use a free or premium reverse phone directory service to find the carrier network to which a certain phone number is assigned. Writer Bio
