Voip call

Australian telecomms companies call for VoIP numbering system

Australian telecomms companies are calling for a new dedicated numbering scheme for VoIP services, but the companies have yet to agree over the technical details, and smaller carriers are worried that the scheme could be uncompetitive.

The proposal was submitted to the Australian Communications Authority in response to the ACA's public discussion paper on VoIP regulation that was issued in October 2004. Australia's leading telecomms company, Telstra, has called for a new numbering system that differentiates between VoIP services that meet current Standard Telephone Service obligations and those that don't.

Australia's Competitive Carrier's Coalition (CCC), which represents second-tier telecomms companies, said however that it believes that treating VoIP services as a third call type between fixed and mobile services would cause problems, and that a separate numbering system would affect fair competition in the market.

Emergency services have also voiced their concerns over unregulated VoIP services that could damage emergency service hotlines, with telecomms companies only wanting to help them when it is in their economic interest to do so, reports ZDNet Australia.

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