National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology of the Republic of Moldova

The National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI – www.anrceti.md) announces readiness to assign to providers numbering resources from „30xxxxxx” and „38xxxxxx” number blocks to be used in the provision of VoIP telephony services. The rules of usage for these numbering resources are set in the special License Conditions for the use of numbers independent of location in public electronic communications networks, approved by ANRCETI Administrative Board Decision no. 20 of 04.08.2011.

VoIP telephony, also known as SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) telephony allows the end user to place phone calls to any telephone - software, mobile or fixed by through the Internet based on package-switching IP technology. To date, in Moldova these services have been offered by the IP-telephony provider for the origination of international calls via access codes 1600 – 1639, which ANRCETI allocates pursuant to the National Numbering Plan (NNP).

The newly-revised version of the NNP, dated 03.03.2010, provides for 2 million numbers independent of location of „30xxxxxx” and „38xxxxxx”, blocks where x = 0…9, to be further used for the provision of voice telephony services based on package-switching IP technology. These are non-geographical numbers and will be used from any locality of the country for access from/to public electronic communication networks and services based on package-switching IP technology, including Internet network, and fixed or mobile terminal locations. The mobile use of these numbers is a way of access to the mentioned services by the mobile end user, in which the location of the terminal point is not connected to any physical geographical number within the network, but gets fixed effectively when the communication takes place.

According to the license conditions, the numbers independent of location will be used by subscribers both for call origination from the territory of Moldova and for call termination at local, national and/or international level. The license conditions set out a number of other requirements for license holders regarding the use of these numbers. The document also specifies that the license for the use of numbers independent of location may be transferred under the regulations issued by the Agency.

The Agency specialists consider that the use of numbers independent of location will enhance the development of alternative voice telephone services which will be beneficial for end users, in particular corporate subscribers with branches in different districts of the country. They will be able to use the numbers within their Internet networks to place national and international calls at more attractive tariffs than the ones currently applied for similar services provided via fixed and mobile telephone networks.

August 8, 2011