Numbering regulations reach final phase / ITWEB

By Leigh-Ann Francis
Johannesburg, 14 Jun 2010

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) is in the process of formulating the Number Plan Regulations and has published a draft version, which is now open for public comment until mid-July.

The regulations are intended to align the regulatory framework with the Electronic Communications Act 2005 and the ICASA Act 2000, as amended in 2006, and to cater adequately for the newly competitive environment.

Senior telecoms consultant at BMI-Tech Knowledge Tim Parle explains that the regulations cover three phases, two of which are already complete.

The first phase was completed in 2007 and entailed changing the international dialling prefix used in SA from "09" to "00". This was in line with international norms and freed up the numbers with the second digit of 9, states Parle.

The most visible part of the second phase was the withdrawal of local calling, requiring South Africans to come to terms with dialling the prefix to local numbers and not just national, long-distance numbers, he continues. “For example, where we had to add 011 to all Johannesburg numbers regardless of whether we were calling from Sandton or Durban.”

The second phase introduced non-geographic numbers and short codes, needed to allow Neotel, and operators, to compete in the fixed market, he explains.

Parle notes that the third phase entails a more radical change. Here, the first digit dialled will change from "0" to "6" for geographic numbers and to "8" or "9" for non-geographic numbers. The aim is to provide more capacity for the long-term, he explains.

ICASA has called for public comment by 19 July and is holding public hearings on the topic in early August. The date for the implementation of phase 3 will be determined after these events.

Neotel welcomed the publication of proposed changes to the national telephone numbering plan, which the telecoms operator says promises to provide structure and clarity that has been lacking to date.

The regulations will force the industry to prepare for new infrastructure requirements and changes to their business models, which is said to have positive long-term effects for operators and their customers.

Industry impact

“The impact of these changes will be felt by the operators, which will need to re-programme the routing tables in all their switches and do extensive testing,” Parle predicts.

This is a large operation for Telkom, given its footprint of telephone switches across the country, and a significant exercise for the mobile operators, given the large number of base station control and MSCs deployed, he continues.

“The effect ripples down to Neotel, ECN, Vox and the like too. For small to medium enterprises, company PABX/PBXes will need to be reprogrammed to handle the changes with knock-on impacts to billing systems, LCR systems, internal directories and the like.”

Gregory Massel, MD of Switch Telecoms, notes that, while mobile networks and wireless application service providers will have to amend some of their premium rate and content subscription services, both company and consumers stand to benefit.

“Companies like Switch Telecom will benefit by being able to provide toll-free services. At present, Telkom makes this difficult because rather than honouring the toll-free status of the 0800 number, it simply plays a message saying: 'Calls to this non-Telkom toll-free number will be charged.'

“In the future, the calls will be toll-free, irrespective of the network they originate on,” explains Massel.

Consumers also stand to benefit from regulations relating to SMS-based content subscription services. “Providers will not be allowed to sign a consumer into a subscription-based service unless the consumer subscribes via a premium rate shortcode.

“Any SMS-based advertisement they send you enticing you to respond will have to be sent from a premium rate shortcode so that consumers are not misled under false pretences,” he notes.

The regulations also allow for the implementation of tariff controls, adds Massel. Certain number ranges will be classified as cheaper calls and others will be classified as more expensive.

“Having two clear bands, excluding toll-free and premium-rate, will help remove the current situation that has arisen where consumers have no idea what the cost of a call is before dialling,” he says.

Parle predicts that consumers may grumble at the changes initially, and for a few weeks may fumble when trying to make a call, but will soon take the changes on board. There is also a chance that shares in media companies and PBX maintenance companies will become hot items, he concludes.