Background
The Number Administration Deed (NAD) is an industry-based mechanism which was established in December 1998 to provide centralised and independent administration of New Zealand’s telecommunication numbering resources.
Number portability was originally a key function of the NAD, however the TCF and NAD agreed in 2003 that this function should be transferred to the TCF, leaving the NAD with the core number administration tasks.
In 2008, the TCF instigated a project to form a joint working party with the NAD, to review who should be responsible for managing the numbering plan, and how it should be managed.
Consultation
The TCF NAD Working Party consulted interested persons on its proposal for reform of the numbering governance arrangements. The Working Party’s proposal is encapsulated in three documents:
- A report, which summarises the proposed arrangements and the Working Party’s thinking that lies behind them;
- A draft Project Scope, which sets the terms of reference for a new permanent working party (the “Numbering Management Group”) of the TCF (section 4 explains the role of this working party and the Project Scope document); and
- A draft Code for Number Management, which defines policy for, and facilitates, the administration of numbering section 4 explains the place of this document).
Submisisons Received
The closing date for providing submissions was 5 February 2010. The submissions received are listed below:
Numbering Terms of Reference
The Numbering Terms of Reference sets the scope of the work to be undertaken by a joint working party to review New Zealand's numbering administration and governance.
The review will take into account the following areas which the Commerce Commission has identified as core elements for establishing best practice in relation to numbering:
- The numbering plan is a national resource;
- Management should be in the overall national interest;
- Allocation and use should be:
- Objective, timely, transparent and non discriminatory;
- Technologically flexible;
- Efficient in managing demand;
- Effective in meeting customer expectations;
- Have the capacity to support Emergency Services; and
- Supportive of competition for the long term benefit of end users.
The scope of this work is to:
- Establish a cross-sector working party with members from TCF, NAD, MED, Commission, TUANZ and any other interested party who may add value, to review the current numbering administration and governance.
- Review the analysis work undertaken by the Commission to compare the current NZ numbering structure with international best practice.
- Prepare a report which outlines recommendations to change the current numbering management structure and governance to ensure the core elements as outlined by the Commission are met.
Keys areas for the working party to take into account are:
- How best to re-design the New Zealand numbering regime to reflect world best practice.
- Determining the appropriate roles for the industry and the regulator.
- How to transition from the current numbering structure and governance to a new improved structure.
Working Party Members
- Airnet
- Commerce Commission
- Link Telecom
- Ministry of Economic Develpment
- Telecom
- TelstraClear
- Vodafone
- WorldxChange
Reference Documents
Related Links