The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today issued its draft pricing principles for non-geographic number portability.
The issuing of the pricing principles coincides with the ACCC's recent decision to mandate premium rate number portability (PRNP). PRNP allows a service bureau or content provider (end-users) to change their carrier and/or service provider while retaining the same premium rate service number(s).
"The lack of premium rate number portability represents an impediment to competition by locking-in end-users to particular service providers and making it difficult for new entrants to attract these end-users", Mr Willet, ACCC Commissioner, said today.
"Each service deliverer and mobile carrier should be responsible for their own system set-up and customer transfer costs of providing non-geographic number portability (NGNP) including premium rate number portability", he said.
The draft guide entitled Pricing Principles for Non-geographic Number Portability – a draft guide sets out the principles the ACCC will apply if it is required to arbitrate a dispute over the terms and conditions of NGNP between the service deliverers and service providers (including carriers) involved with porting non-geographic numbers, such as premium rate (1900), freephone (13 and 1300) and local rate (1800) numbers.
"Issuing the draft guide provides service providers and other interested parties an opportunity to comment on the pricing principles. In addition, it should assist carriers and service providers in making an informed choice about developing a long-term technical solution for the provision of NGNP".
The ACCC believes the draft pricing principles present service providers with the right incentives to provide NGNP in the most efficient and low cost fashion.
"This should be great news for content providers and service bureaus. While NGNP will allow end-users to move more freely between competing service providers, these principles should also ensure NGNP is provided in the most efficient way possible".
The ACCC expects this will lead to increased competition between service providers and, therefore, lower prices and a greater range of services using non-geographic numbers being offered to end-users.
Pricing Principles for Non-geographic Number Portability – a draft guide is available from all ACCC offices and will be on the ACCC's web site under Telecommunications. The ACCC seeks comment on the draft guide by 26 September 2003.