Starting from 14 April 2010, the interested providers of publicly available electronic communications services may request ANCOM the allotment of one of the two new harmonised numbers available for services of social value: 116006 or 116117. The deadline for sending requests for these numbers, in the first allotment phase, is 14 May 2010.
The number 116006 will be available for providing telephone assistance for victims of crime. This service will offer the victims of crime the possibility to receive emotional support in such situations, informing them of their rights and how to use them, while also referring victims to relevant organisations, and especially information about local police and criminal justice proceedings, possibilities for compensation and insurance matters.
The number 116117 will be available for providing non-emergency medical call service. It will direct callers to medical assistance when the need is urgent but not life-threatening, especially – but not limited to – outside normal office hours, during the weekend or public holidays. This service will connect the caller to a skilled call-handler with adequate experience and expertise or to a qualified medical practitioner.
These two numbers, alongside the other national short numbers in the 116(xyz) range, will be made available cost-free.
They shall be allotted to providers of telephone services, not to providers of the services of social value, but along with the request for these numbers, the telephony provider must submit a pre-contract concluded with a provider of services of social value. Where ANCOM receives – by 14 May 2010 – several requests for one number, the allotment shall be decided based on a scoring grid assessing the capacity of each provider of harmonised services of social value to ensure the implementation of the service for which the respective number is reserved, the technical solution used, the potential degree of accessibility of the respective service, as well as the requesters’ experience in implementing national short numbers and the activation deadline.
116(xyz) numbers are reserved in all EU Member States for services of social value and must be allotted for the same type of services in all EU countries. At present, in Romania, there are available two more numbers within this range: 116 000 for the Missing Child Hotline, provided by FOCUS – The Romanian Centre for Missing & Sexually Exploited Children, and 116 111 for Child Helplines, provided by the Association ”Child Helpline”. ANCOM also opened for allotment the number 116123 for emotional support helplines, but, so far, no provider has applied for this number.