The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today issued its pricing principles for non-geographic number portability.
Non-geographic numbers are used to provide freephone (1800), local rate (13,1300) and premium rate (1900) services. Freephone services include home and community care, referral and counselling services. Local rate services include taxi bookings, airline reservations and customer enquiry services. Premium rate services include competition lines, adult and psychic information services.
The release 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 (customers) 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 customers", ACCC Commissioner, Mr Ed Willett, said today.
The ACCC's Pricing Principles for Non-geographic Number Portability – a guide sets out the principles the ACCC will generally apply if it is required to arbitrate a dispute over the terms and conditions of non-geographic number portability between the service providers involved with porting non-geographic number service numbers.
"In finalising its views, the ACCC had considered industry views and decided not to vary its draft pricing principles, released in September 2003.
"Each service deliverer and mobile carrier should be responsible for their own system set-up, call conveyance and customer transfer costs of providing non-geographic number portability including premium rate number portability.
"The ACCC believes this principle is essential for ensuring service providers have the right incentives to choose the most efficient technical solution to provide premium rate number portability", Mr Willett said.