According to the telecommunications Law 431/2002 (Article 5.1.f and Article 31.1), the TRA is responsible for establishing and managing the National Numbering Plan (NNP) for subscribers and Service Providers of telecommunication services. The TRA is consulting on numbering management in different stages.
On March 19th, 2008 as a first stage, the TRA issued a new NNP and Charging for consultation. In this stage, the Authority is issuing “Administering and Implementing the National Numbering Plan” for consultation, which sets out new arrangements for numbering administration, more detailed proposals for the future of short codes and premium rate and shared cost service numbering, and proposals for implementing changes to the numbering plan. This draft document for consultation contains:
- Numbering Administration
Includes appropriate policies needed to create the framework for a Numbering Regulation that involves the selection of blocks and its required rules for allocation.
- Short Codes
Includes issues concerning the future use of 1xx(x) short codes:
- Which services may keep on using the current 1xx(x) short codes.
- Which services should be transferred from short codes 1xx(x) to new ranges of national numbers starting with 8 (for shared cost services) or 9 (for premium rate services).
The implementation of Short Codes will take effect with the coordination of Mobile Operators.
- Implementation Plan
Addresses the implementation issues associated with the changes required by the proposed NNP with the following topics:
- Timing and phases of the changes to fixed and mobile numbers.
- Management and coordination required from the industry, the regulator and users in preparation of the changes and afterwards.
The “Administering and Implementing the National Numbering Plan” document has been currently launched for consultation. Interested parties are urged to submit their feedback before the 4th of July, 2008 after having reviewed the following documents:
The feedback can be submitted by email at numberingplan@tra.gov.lb or by courier (hard and soft copy) at the TRA, Marfaa 200 Building Second Floor, Beirut Central District along with the Cover Sheet for response to a TRA Consultation.
Click here to view the final version of the Numbering Regulation that will be published in the official gazette soon.