Regulator rings the changes on numbers

THE communications regulator is to overhaul Australia's telephone numbering system after noticing an increase in the use of phone calls on the internet, as well as general consumer apathy about the cost of calls.

Use of area codes, freecall numbers and numbers set aside for satellite services and early adaptors of internet telephony will be examined in a shake-up of the telephone numbering plan outlined in a discussion paper released by the Australian Communications and Media Authority yesterday.

Geographic information inherent in fixed-line numbers was becoming less relevant as more calls were made over the internet, known as voice over internet protocol (VOIP), and as consumers paid less attention to call costs because of falling prices and the prevalence of mobile cap plans. The authority has questioned whether geographic information such as area codes and prefixes will be relevant in the future.

The national broadband network is rolled out

When the national broadband network is rolled out, all connected households will be making phone calls over its broadband fibre, and based on current pricing would be charged the same for local as for national calls.

''There is no technical obstacle to a number used in connection with a VOIP service being used in any place in Australia, challenging the traditional tying of geographic numbers to specific geographical areas,'' the authority said. ''Many of the provisions in the Numbering Plan, such as those relating to costs of calls to particular numbers, are built around an assumption that landline phones would be the dominant form of communication.''

The authority to ask whether there

Lower call costs from mobile phones have prompted the authority to ask whether there would need to be a distinction between mobile and fixed numbers in the future.