Venture set to settle telco strife

By RICHARD BRADDELL

WELLINGTON - The long-running telecommunications wrangle over portability and allocation of toll-free numbers has taken a step forward with the establishment of joint venture company to handle their administration and portability.

Signed up to by seven telephone companies, the new company will provide the forum for administration and allocation of the 0800 and 0508 toll-free numbers which form the basis of one of the more profitable telecommunications activities.

The new company, TNAS Ltd (toll-free number administration system), is to enter into contractual arrangements to establish non-discriminatory administration and number portability arrangements on behalf of the joint venture members.

This will include a common database of numbers which can be used by the member companies and service providers.

Telecom's spokesman Clive Litt, acting in an independent capacity as spokesman for TNAS, said details such as the cost of administration and prices for transferring existing numbers would be established after negotiation between the signatories.

"Decision-making varies from a simple majority to consensus and the process by which costs will be allocated is defined in the document but we can't actually allocate costs yet because we have to establish what they are," Mr Litt said.

Clear's spokesman, Ross Inglis, said the agreement was not a number portability solution in itself and Clear would have preferred a Government-mandated timeframe for its introduction.

While Clear, Compass, Newcall, Saturn, Telecom, Telstra and Vodafone are signatories, the joint venture is open to any carrier.

The selection of a third party vendor to provide and operate the system is to begin immediately.