Plans are afoot to change Australia’s telecommunications numbering system and to transfer management of the system from government to industry.
The proposed move, if implemented, is designed to bring about greater efficiency and more agile solutions to meet customers’ numbering needs.
Current proposals would see management of the numbering system transferred from the government regulator — the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) — to the Communications Alliance, as the peak body representing the telecommunications industry.
The proposed move, put forward by the Communications Alliance, would see a range of responsibilities including the allocation of fixed and mobile numbers, the provisions for "smart" numbers — ie‘13TAXI’ — and the management of the numbering plan regulatory framework transferred.
{loadposition peter}CA outlined its proposals in a public consultation paper issued on Friday and sets out its preferred approach for the organisation to take on the management of telecommunications numbering if it is transferred from government.
Communications Alliance chief executive John Stanton said that through process improvement and resource rationalisation, the proposal for change had the potential to deliver “greater efficiencies for the industry and a better experience for Australian telecommunications consumers”.
Stanton said adopting an industry-managed numbering scheme would be subject not only to passage through Parliament of the Bill but also to the Communications Alliance reaching suitable agreement on the new arrangements with relevant existing service providers – the ACMA, ZOAK Solutions, Paradigm. One and Industry Numbering Management Services (INMS).
The CA says in its discussion paper that public telecommunications numbers are an essential component of telecommunications services, and the proposed new framework would be expected to be better prepared to deal with ongoing changes in telecommunications technology impacting numbers, including convergence and the Internet of Things (IoT).
The Alliance says its proposal provides an opportunity to introduce a framework that is more efficient and enhances both innovation and agility in numbering management – enabling service providers to meet customer expectations in a “dynamic telecommunications environment”.
And, according to the CA, both consumers and industry stakeholders would benefit from changes to the numbering system.
The CA says the move would rationalise resources and streamline processes to reduce the costs of services to consumers, while improving the agility of industry to respond to customer needs.