TABLE OF CONTENTS Telecommunications numbers are allocated to individual subscribers and services, and serve as their addresses. They form the method by which a user of telecommunications informs the network of the required destination or service. They are strings of digits, based on the ten digits of the decimal number system. While the range can be extended (and has been extended locally) by the use of additional symbols such as #, *, hexadecimal symbols or letters of the alphabet, any widespread extension is constrained since it would require a major reorganisation of the world telecommunications network.
Telecommunications numbering is a subject for regulation in competitive markets because it is a scarce resource. There is a bounded number of numbers. It has the potential to frustrate competition through wasteful assignment, unfair allocation or simply running out of numbers. Bad management of a numbering system results in numbering volatility (that is, frequent changes to numbers), imposing efficiency penalties on the industry and large costs on users. Numbering relates also to the consumer dimension of regulation, since numbering and dialling plans greatly affect the user-friendliness of a telecommunications network.
Telecommunications numbering can appear a paradoxical subject, since some aspects of it possess different characteristics than may be apparent on first impressions. How can a numbering system, after all a pure product of the human intellect, possibly have limits like a physical scarce resource such as radio spectrum or co-location floor space? This is because a particular numbering scheme is...
