Number policy is 'too rigid'
The Nation (24 October 2007)
Operators request public hearing
Cellular operators have asked the national regulator to revise upcoming regulations governing subscribers' mobile-phone numbers. They say the framework is too rigid.
The operators want the National Telecommunications Commission to hold a public hearing on the regulations.
The commission has approved the regulations, and they will be put into effect soon.
The industry watchdog solicited public opinion about the new rules.
A commission source said Total Access Communication (DTAC) and True Move sought a revision and that Advanced Info Service (AIS) was expected to follow suit.
DTAC disagrees with the statement that telephone numbers are a limited resource and wants it removed.
"Based on international practices, phone numbers are not a scarce resource and can be allocated anytime," it said.
DTAC proposed the regulations be reviewed whenever operators asked and not every five years as stated. It says rules need to be flexible in a fast-changing industry.
It said the commission was slow in granting it additional phone numbers and that this made it difficult to meet market demand and challenge market leader AIS.
AIS has 23 million subscribers and DTAC 14 million. True Move has more than 9 million.
DTAC proposed the commission process additional subscriber number requests within 14 days, including considering the request and notifying the company.
There is no regulation stating how long the commission can take when considering requests.
The company asked the commission to allocate additional phone numbers in accordance with company demand and not in predetermined bundles.
It said companies that received larger number bundles had an advantage over competitors.
The commission has been granting new numbers in blocks of 2 million when companies submitted requests for as many as 3 million.
DTAC also disagrees with the regulation banning cellular operators from assigning phone numbers to unsold SIM cards.
The commission wants to discourage operators from giving away free SIM cards with numbers, because it views this as a waste of numbers.
The Nation (24 October 2007)
Operators request public hearing
Cellular operators have asked the national regulator to revise upcoming regulations governing subscribers' mobile-phone numbers. They say the framework is too rigid.
The operators want the National Telecommunications Commission to hold a public hearing on the regulations.
The commission has approved the regulations, and they will be put into effect soon.
The industry watchdog solicited public opinion about the new rules.
A commission source said Total Access Communication (DTAC) and True Move sought a revision and that Advanced Info Service (AIS) was expected to follow suit.
DTAC disagrees with the statement that telephone numbers are a limited resource and wants it removed.
"Based on international practices, phone numbers are not a scarce resource and can be allocated anytime," it said.
DTAC proposed the regulations be reviewed whenever operators asked and not every five years as stated. It says rules need to be flexible in a fast-changing industry.
It said the commission was slow in granting it additional phone numbers and that this made it difficult to meet market demand and challenge market leader AIS.
AIS has 23 million subscribers and DTAC 14 million. True Move has more than 9 million.
DTAC proposed the commission process additional subscriber number requests within 14 days, including considering the request and notifying the company.
There is no regulation stating how long the commission can take when considering requests.
The company asked the commission to allocate additional phone numbers in accordance with company demand and not in predetermined bundles.
It said companies that received larger number bundles had an advantage over competitors.
The commission has been granting new numbers in blocks of 2 million when companies submitted requests for as many as 3 million.
DTAC also disagrees with the regulation banning cellular operators from assigning phone numbers to unsold SIM cards.
The commission wants to discourage operators from giving away free SIM cards with numbers, because it views this as a waste of numbers.
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