Fears for telephone number system

AUSTRALIA'S telephone numbering system could be thrown into chaos as more calls are made on mobile networks and more people use internet-based telephone services that do not require geographic information to connect a call.

The technology changes place more stress on emergency services, which receive geographic information from fixed-line calls to triple-O, and businesses that send fixed calls to 13-numbers to the nearest shopfront.

The regulator responsible for the numbering plan

The regulator responsible for the numbering plan, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, is expected to start consultations in coming weeks to avoid problems and amend the plan.

Area codes and local identifiers such as 03 for Victoria and 9836 for Camberwell are used by the copper telephone network as a map to send calls to certain states and exchanges, with the last four digits sending the call to a particular port within the exchange.

Fibre broadband connection

But telephone calls made over a fibre broadband connection, known within the industry as voice over internet protocol (VOIP), are sent to an internet address and not a physical location. This means it is technically possible for telephone numbers to be taken from any location in Australia to another. It is a similar concept to email, which is sent to an internet address, not a geographic location.