Number portability

As VoIP beds down and people get comfortable with the services etc
there will come a point where number portability becomes an issue that
restrains the growth of the market.

There was a flurry of activivity by OFCOM last year
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/groups/nvs_index/
which seemed to be saying that if a provider offerred a PATS (Publicly
Available Telephone Service) then in a letter dated 20/12/04 stated

"Where the service provided to its subscribers is a PATS service which
complies with the Interim PATS Policy, a communications provider is
obliged to provide Number Portability in the circumstances provided
for in General Condition 18.1 of the General Conditions of
Entitlement."

so I'm confused - do we have number portability or don't we ?
which if any VoIP services classify themselves as PATS ?

Phil
--
spamcop.net address commissioned 18/06/04
Come on down !

Vonage are working on it in the UK and already have it I believe in the USA.

"Phil Thompson" <phil.thompson@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:3904e1d2gt3s6ldc5iv7rmoe05uqobl333@4ax.com...
> As VoIP beds down and people get comfortable with the services etc
> there will come a point where number portability becomes an issue that
> restrains the growth of the market.
>
> There was a flurry of activivity by OFCOM last year
> http://www.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/groups/nvs_index/
> which seemed to be saying that if a provider offerred a PATS (Publicly
> Available Telephone Service) then in a letter dated 20/12/04 stated
>
> "Where the service provided to its subscribers is a PATS service which
> complies with the Interim PATS Policy, a communications provider is
> obliged to provide Number Portability in the circumstances provided
> for in General Condition 18.1 of the General Conditions of
> Entitlement."
>
> so I'm confused - do we have number portability or don't we ?
> which if any VoIP services classify themselves as PATS ?
>
> Phil
> --
> spamcop.net address commissioned 18/06/04
> Come on down !

On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 13:24:02 GMT, "Paul Westwell" <paul@nospam.me.uk>
wrote:

>Vonage are working on it in the UK and already have it I believe in the USA.

they do in the USA, but it's the participation of others that is
probably the issue. One outfit can never constitute a portability
scheme.

Phil
--
spamcop.net address commissioned 18/06/04
Come on down !

True but I guess OFCOM would comedown on heavily on BT for example if they
resisted number portability with Vonage for example. I cannot see Vonage (or
other SIP providers) not wanting number portability as I would expect them
to gain far more then they would lose on entering a new market.


"Phil Thompson" <phil.thompson@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:69m4e1prdnmtm03hrg77ci95u312f4vfc6@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 13:24:02 GMT, "Paul Westwell" <paul@nospam.me.uk>
> wrote:
>
>>Vonage are working on it in the UK and already have it I believe in the
>>USA.
>
> they do in the USA, but it's the participation of others that is
> probably the issue. One outfit can never constitute a portability
> scheme.
>
> Phil
> --
> spamcop.net address commissioned 18/06/04
> Come on down !

On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 15:39:35 GMT, "Paul Westwell" <paul@nospam.me.uk>
wrote:

>True but I guess OFCOM would comedown on heavily on BT for example if they
>resisted number portability with Vonage for example. I cannot see Vonage (or
>other SIP providers) not wanting number portability as I would expect them
>to gain far more then they would lose on entering a new market.

do Vonage claim to be offerring PATS* in the UK would appear to be the
question then, if so then portability should be easy.

* PATS is an EU concept for "publicly available telephone service"
which has wording around 112/999 emergency calls and other things like
"resilience of the network". I believe that exclusive use of the
public internet for connectivity does not meet the resilience
criteria without a fallover to an analogue line or other circuit.

Phil
--
spamcop.net address commissioned 18/06/04
Come on down !

Phil,

I'm not sure......

They do have failover to analogue in the form of if the VOIP is unavailable
then all calls will be diverted to a number of your choice (not sure if that
covers the PATS requirement?)

They also provide 112/999

Regards,

Paul




"Phil Thompson" <phil.thompson@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:di65e1tlfi1ufkj8bhiuo8j3fg7qmedea1@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 15:39:35 GMT, "Paul Westwell" <paul@nospam.me.uk>
> wrote:
>
>>True but I guess OFCOM would comedown on heavily on BT for example if they
>>resisted number portability with Vonage for example. I cannot see Vonage
>>(or
>>other SIP providers) not wanting number portability as I would expect them
>>to gain far more then they would lose on entering a new market.
>
> do Vonage claim to be offerring PATS* in the UK would appear to be the
> question then, if so then portability should be easy.
>
> * PATS is an EU concept for "publicly available telephone service"
> which has wording around 112/999 emergency calls and other things like
> "resilience of the network". I believe that exclusive use of the
> public internet for connectivity does not meet the resilience
> criteria without a fallover to an analogue line or other circuit.
>
> Phil
> --
> spamcop.net address commissioned 18/06/04
> Come on down !

On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 21:05:04 GMT, "Paul Westwell" <paul@nospam.me.uk>
wrote:

>They do have failover to analogue in the form of if the VOIP is unavailable
>then all calls will be diverted to a number of your choice (not sure if that
>covers the PATS requirement?)

no the PATS requirement would be that I could still make a call if
their SIP server had taken the day off.

Phil
--
spamcop.net address commissioned 18/06/04
Come on down !