Norway issues IP Telephony Numbers>
The world's first Internet telephony service to be allocated
a national code was launched last week, allowing PC users
to receive direct-dial incoming calls wherever they log on.
But a plan by major carriers to extend the concept globally
via an international dialing code exclusively for IP
telephony has been rebuffed by the International
Telecommunication Union.
Telenor Nextel, the ISP subsidiary of the Norwegian
dominant carrier, launched Interfon PC last week, offering
its high-usage customers individual IP phone numbers
based on the code "850" issued by Norway's regulator.
Interfon customers will be able to receive calls from PCs or
PSTN phones, and make outgoing calls via Nextel's IP
network and IP/PSTN gateways.
Users can be contacted whenever they are logged on to
Nextel; when they log off, the number can be diverted to a
PSTN or mobile phone.
The 850 code is available for any non-geographic
application, said an official from the regulator's office. "The
definition of public telephony services is technology
independent." So far, Nextel is Norway's sole IP telephony
service provider (ITSP) and, in common with any public
voice operator, has only to register with the regulator to
deliver voice services.
Working with Stockholm-based L.M. Ericsson AB, which
supplies gatekeeper equipment, Nextel integrated the
system with its existing billing and customer care systems,
allowing differentiated prices for national and international
outgoing calls. But customers looking for another IP
telephony toll-bypass solution "are coming to the wrong
place," said Ivar Plahte, head of Nextel's
telecommunications services.
The real benefit of voice-data convergence lies in the
applications that integrate data and voice, such as
click-to-call Yellow and White Pages, group working and
conferencing, he said. The ability to roam is the other.
Interfon PC customers can access the service via Nextel's
point of presence in the United States and stay within its
end-to-end IP network. Or they can use the Internet via its
roaming agreements with ISPs in more than 50 countries.
Plahte would like to see the numbering concept extended
via a global dial plan, and Telenor is one of six PSTN
operators that have applied to the ITU for a new IP
telephony "country code." But the request submitted last
month by Telenor, AT&T, BT, Sprint, Sonera and Telekom
Austria, has so far been rejected.
The issue threatens to polarize opinions between those
traditional carriers that are early experimenters with IP
telephony, and those who see it purely as a threat to
international call revenues, according to ITU officials.
Consequently, the ITU's Study Group 2, which deals with
applications for global numbers, could not reach a
consensus and has replied with "a provisional no." But the
Group must reach a consensus position, either for or
against, at its next meeting in May.
Insiders say the proposal caused "consternation" at the
Study Group.
Developing nations are particularly sensitive to the danger
IP telephony poses to the accounting rates system, on
which many rely for a substantial proportion of their
revenues. Consequently, the implications of the global
number plan are now being debated by Study Group 3,
which has responsibility for international tariffs and
accounting rates. "The danger is that once you allocate a
country code for this service, there will be 1,001 other
candidates all claiming equal treatment," said another ITU
official. "But we will certainly see the rise of personal
numbers."
The carriers want to use the number initially as part of a
six-month interoperability and consumer trial, which starts
in March and which is funded by the European
Commission. But the long-term aim is to introduce the
concept of "a global number for life," said Richard Stastny
of Telekom Austria.
With each new "country code," a block of a trillion new
numbers becomes available. IP telephony numbers could be
issued to individual users, via their ITSP, along with a
digital certificate, said Stastny. When users move to
another provider, they take their number with them, which
is then synchronized with a central registry.
This model would make it relatively straightforward to port
users between operators and to route traffic to the nearest
participating POP, rather than via the PSTN to the
destination ITSP's country of origin.
On receiving a call to a global IP telephony number, the
PSTN switch will route the call to the nearest available POP.
The transit IP carrier would then query the central registry
for the destination IP telephony operator before passing
the call over the IP network - a similar system to that
employed by the Internet's domain name system.
The carriers' applications are supported by the
Telecommunications and Internet Protocol Harmonization
Over Networks (Tiphon) standards group, part of the
European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
but with about 40% U.S. membership. Tiphon's mission to
develop global standards for interoperability involves
mapping IP address to the ITU's 15-digit global PSTN
numbering system, E.164.
Ultimately, the integration concept drives forward the idea
of doing away with numbers altogether, said a Tiphon
spokesman. "A phone number is just a routing code," as
intelligent phones can link a destination name to the
number and let the network do the rest.
But the United Kingdom's Department of Trade and
Industry, which supports the six carriers' application in the
interests of encouraging competition, is less convinced of
the need for a global number.
"ETSI is extremely keen on the global country code idea,"
said a consultant to the DTI. "But from a user's point of
view, the greatest commercial demand is likely to be for
numbers within existing national codes. For instance,
businesses will want take their existing numbers with them.
But it's not for us to prejudge what people want."
The facility to route calls straight to the nearest POP would
not necessarily result in cheaper calls for consumers, he
pointed out.
Another issue is whether it is appropriate to tie a global
number directly to a technology. The ITU is also
considering whether the global IP number application
should be a service that could later be extended to mobile
or even PSTN networks. |
