[LINK] Ported telephone numbers

[David]

On Wednesday, 10 January 2018 9:57:35 AM AEDT Paul Brooks wrote:

> Feel free to ping me off-list if you'd like to delve in to this deeper, and who your gaining provider is.

Thanks...  This is an area which doesn't get much exposure amid all the sound & fury of NBN implementation.  But it seems important because "porting" papers over a fundamental issue with network addressing: traditional POTS addressing is a bit irrelevant in a VoIP-based network (as ACMA have stated in a strategy paper), especially one with so many providers and a volatile customer base.

So I thought it might also be of general interest on Link.

> Local Number Portability isn't a true 100% multiparty thing unfortunately, so there can be holes. I might be a few years out of date now, but it used to work that a new carrier who wants to receive ported numbers has to execute a separate porting agreement with each other carrier it wants to receive numbers from, [...]

I see, I'd assumed the mandatory requirement to publish a PLNR ("Ported Local Number Register") file was intended to allow all carriers to route calls directly to the carrier currently holding a ported number without going through the donor carrier.  But the whole idea might be suffering scability problems now.

> Is the new provider a true carrier with a proper 4-digit carrier access code (CAC)?  Perhaps they have contracted Telstra to perform the portability functions on their behalf. Telstra can't 'hang on to the number' if it is requested to be ported by a carrier with a porting agreement, [...]

My current ISP isn't a carrier, and I suspect their service-provider may be Primus Telecommunications which isn't marked 'LNP' at http://commsalliance.com.au/Documents/Industry-Lists/EPID  So I suppose it's quite likely one or the other have contracted Telstra to forward calls.  Unfortunately the ISP's help-desk person, who seems technically quite knowledgeable, doesn't know much about what happens on the far side of their VoIP server.  But the good news is that their ported-number charge is apparently now $5.50 p.m., not $10 as I reported!

The other problem I haven't found a precise definition of the meaning of the 'LNP' flag in the EPID.  Do you know off the top of your head?

Regards,
David L.