Numbering has gained increasing strategic importance in the area of telecommunications. For this reason, and since it is a limited resource, it is necessary to establish clear and well-defined principles and criteria that ensure not only efficient management of this resource, but also, and above all, transparent and non-discriminatory access to this resource, an issue which is especially important in a competitive environment.
For this reason, the question of numbering is dealt with in Community legislation in some detail. For example, Directive 98/10/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 1998, on the application of on the application of open network provision (ONP) to voice telephony and on universal service for telecommunications in a competitive environment, and Directive 97/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 April 1997 on a common framework for general authorisations and individual licences in the field of telecommunications services, envisage, among other aspects, the need to define transparent procedures for non-discriminatory assignment of numbering resources.
These principles are indeed provided for in the Basic Law of Telecommunications (Telecommuncations Act - Act 91/97 of 1 Augusthttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=975872) which, in Article 10, warns of the need for the assignment processes of numbers or series of numbers to obey rules of transparency, equity and efficiency.
Decree-Law 415/98 of 31 Decemberhttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=981631 entrusted the ICP with the responsibility for administering the National Numbering Plan "according to principles of transparency, equity and efficiency" and to "assign identification codes and series of numbers to the authorised entities in a non-discriminatory, objective and transparent fashion".
In the terms of Article 30, the ICP is also responsible for "publishing the main elements of the National Numbering Plan, as well as subsequent amendments or alterations ...".
On the other hand, the current change in the National Numbering Plan has increased the need for firmly established rules for administration of the Plan.
It is hoped that an initial base can be established for the definition of procedures for both network operators and service providers, and other participants in the market (operators, service suppliers and customers) in the administration and use of resources.
