ANRC Consults the Industry on the Necessity of Updating the National Numbering Plan

Today, August 5, 2004, ANRC opens the preliminary public consultation on the Necessity of Updating the National Numbering Plan (NNP). ANRC deems this procedure as a necessary step in order to ensure, in the long run, the availability of adequate numbering resources for the provision of all the services and all the operators on the market, while providing for the effective use of these limited resources.

The national Numbering Plan is the document that sets the structure and the destination of the numbering resources used in Romania for the telephony services provided by means of the fixed public electronic communications networks and for the telephony services provided by means of the public mobile networks.

ANRC focuses on performing an analysis regarding the extent to which the current numbering plan meets the present requirements of the electronic communications market. Following this analysis, as well as the development trends in the field, ANRC will decide whether the NNP must be updated. The document posted for the preliminary public consultation today invites the industry, the public authorities in the field, the end-users as well as other interested entities to express their opinion on the following issues of public interest:

– the dimension of the numbering blocks allotted and the opportunity of allocating smaller blocks in order to allow for a more effective management of the numbering resources;

– the method of disclosing caller identity for the calls initiated from telephone sets connected to private networks;

– the identification of the adequate numbering domain for the voice services provided by means of virtual private networks;

– the identification of the adequate numbering domain for the voice services provided by means of public virtual mobile networks;

– updating the list of services included in chapter Miscellaneous Services of the National Numbering Plan in order to include the new services to be launched on the market;

– the opportunity of adopting special provisions amending or completing the existing provisions of the current National Numbering Plan.

The ANRC initiative is a necessary procedure, considering that, after the liberalization of the electronic communications market, the range of services provided by the operators enlarged. Thus, the above mentioned topics for discussion are just a few of the issues that drove the ANRC specialists to the conclusion that the information coming from the electronic communications industry will prove to be very helpful for the issuance of a correct decision. The preliminary consultation paper has been elaborated in a flexible manner, with open questions and guidelines for discussion, and is meant to give an incentive to the interested entities to advance new ideas and recommendations, which will contribute to a comprehensive approach of the ANRC specialists, while updating the National Numbering Plan.

The document is available for consultation on the website of ANRC. All interested persons are invited to send their comments until September 9, 2004. Comments and recommendations may be sent by mail to the ANRC headquarters at 14 Libertatii Blvd., Bucharest 5, or may be submitted directly to the ANRC registration office or at the territorial office of ANRC located in the nearest municipality. Comments may also be sent by fax at: +40 21 307 54 02 or by e-mail at: consultare@anrc.ro.