Telecommunications Number Portability Initiative
Telecommunications Industry Launches Number Portability Initiative
Nine telecommunications companies have
combined to accelerate the industry’s slow crawl towards
number portability.
The nine companies – CallPlus, CLEAR, Compass, IHUG, Newcall, Quest, Superway, Telstra Saturn and WorldXchange – have agreed on what they have described as a “roadmap for portability”. They call for an independent industry process to deliver portability -- the ability for customers to keep their number when they change their telecommunications provider -- in New Zealand.
The industry group believes number portability can be available in this country within 12 months.
Spokesperson, Dennis Millard, Services Development and Operations Manager, CallPlus Ltd said the group wants to halt the planned cost-benefit study into Long Term Number Portability (LTNP) about to be commissioned by the parties to the Number Administration Deed (NAD).
“The NAD process has taken 18 months just to get to the stage of agreeing on who should undertake a cost-benefit study,” said Mr Millard. “The study itself is likely to take more than six months and offers no guarantee that we’ll get portability. Even if the NAD parties then agree on portability, further time will be lost on issues such as allocating the costs of its implementation.
“New Zealand’s telecommunications
users should not have to wait so long for a facility that is
both essential and basic. Internationally, the benefits of
portability – particularly for local numbers – are now
universally accepted. A further cost-benefit study in New
Zealand is both unnecessary and expensive, and will serve
only to put the brakes on the rollout of
portability.
“What we’re saying is: The technology is here and the will is here. Let’s get on and do it.”
Mr Millard said the industry group’s proposal was being considered by both Telecom and Vodafone, and that Vodafone has indicated its willingness to work with the industry players to progress this issue.
The proposal draws on international experience in introducing portability. In particular, it details how it would be funded, how much consumers should expect to pay for it, and what exactly it would deliver.
Ends
A media audio conference to explain the
initiative has been scheduled for 4pm on Friday 8 September.
The conference will be hosted by:
Dennis Millard,
Services Development and Operations Manager, CallPlus
Ltd
Contact phone: (09) 915 7512
Mobile: (021) 66 41
41
Contact fax: (09) 915 7515
Contact email:
dennism@callplus.co.nz
Please dial in on 0800 944 449
Then enter the guest pin of 72048790
3476#
Telecommunications Operators in support of the Industry Initiative
(Note: (NAD) designated parties to the Number Administration Deed)
CallPlus
Communications, (NAD) Dennis Millard, Services Development
and Operations Manager
CLEAR Communications, (NAD) Grant
Forsyth, Manager Industry & Regulatory Affairs
Compass
Communications, Karim Hussona, Chief Executive
IHUG,
(NAD) David Diprose, Telecommunications Manager
Newcall
Communications, (NAD) David Stubbs, Director of Business
Development
QUEST, Nigel Colling, Chief
Executive
Superway, Peter Pratt, Managing
Director
Telstra Saturn, (NAD), Jilyut Wong, GM Industry
and Carrier Relations
WorldXchange, Paul Clarkin,
Operations Manager
Telecommunications Industry
Number Portability Initiative
8 September 2000
1.
That the current cost-benefit study into Long Term Number
Portability (LTNP) being considered by the parties to the
Number Administration Deed (NAD) be halted.
2. That the
industry agrees to implement systems and upgrades to their
own existing systems to enable them to deliver LTNP as
currently specified in clause 7 of the NAD LTNP Economic
Study Terms Of Reference for the independent expert, dated 4
March 2000f.
Note 1: The NAD specification simply
defines “service equivalence” where the service of a ported
number is equivalent to a non ported service within the same
network.
Note 2: the technical implementation of a
solution within an operator’s own network is for the
operator’s sole determination so long as the implementation
delivers the agreed “equivalence of service” and interfaces
and integrates to an agreed technical specification with
other operators.
3. That each operator agrees to be
capable of supporting LTNP as defined in 2 above within 12
months of all operators agreeing to these resolutions or
sooner by mutual agreement or sooner by mandate of the
Government.
4. That all costs associated with the
implementation of number portability within an operator’s
own business, including amongst other costs, network and
operating support systems upgrades, will be borne by that
operator.
5. That the industry commission a 3 month
project to design an independent intra-industry process and
administrative institution to facilitate the delivery of
LTNP (for example to manage churn and a central register of
ported numbers).
6. That the cost of development of an
intra-industry system, will be shared equitably by all
operators that currently have numbers allocated to them.
The on-going costs of administration will be shared between
all operators via a small annual flat fee and usage
basis.
7. That a recipient operator will be liable to pay
a one-off administration charge to a donor operator for each
user that chooses to change their operator and take their
number with them. The administration charge to be of the
order of the current administration charge ($17.00) and no
more than $20 + gst.
8. That a donor operator will not
charge a recipient operator or ported user any amount per
call or for conveyance, in addition to normal interconnect
charges, for the service being ported.
9. That the
current arrangements of charging an additional 0.5c per
minute for conveyance of calls ‘ported’ via the Call
Readdress facility (the current interim number portability
arrangement) will cease by the end of 2000.
10. That the
parties will seek any necessary authorisations under the
Commerce Act to support the above resolutions before
implementing such of them as require
authorisation.