April 15, 2019

Ofcom has published three consultations on the future use of telephone numbers and how calls between different networks are connected.

These initial consultations follow a February statement in which Ofcom sets out what it expects from phone companies as they move landline services on to internet networks.

This move creates both opportunities and challenges for improving call services, such as identifying and preventing nuisance calls. Ofcom is therefore considering how its regulation could evolve to ensure people retain confidence in phone numbers and calls, and access to important services.

As part of Ofcom’s work to tackle nuisance and scam calls, it believes a common database of phone numbers is needed to enable phone companies to verify that Caller ID numbers are genuine. A common database could also help improve the process of letting people and businesses keep (or “port”) their number when they switch providers.

Ofcom is inviting comments on its initial views by 6 June 2019. It intends to publish a summary of responses to this consultation and outline next steps in the summer. To access this consultation, click here.

As for the future of telephone numbers, Ofcom is inviting views on how landline numbers should evolve to keep up with changes in how they are used, including whether area codes and their associated location information should be retained.

The regulator is also looking at whether certain phone numbers might continue to be used by people to make small payments.

This consultation closes on 20 June 2019, and Ofcom plans to set out further policy proposals for this area later this year. To access this consultation, click here.

As for the future of interconnection and call termination, Ofcom is seeking views on what the move to internet calls might mean for its regulation of “interconnection”, i.e. the process of ensuring all calls made from one network to another are connected.

The move may also have implications for how Ofcom regulates what phone companies charge each other for connecting calls between their networks.

This consultation closes on 6 June 2019. Responses will inform Ofcom’s next review of interconnection and termination markets, which it expects to consult on early in 2020. To access this consultation, click here.