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

Today, April 27, the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) published the announcement about availability of national short numbers 116000, 116111 and 116123 to be assigned for harmonized services of social character. The applications for license issuance for the use of these numbers can be submitted to ANRCETI on May 1 – June 1, 2012.

The following services will be provided via these numbers: 116000 - hotline for missing children, 116111 - child helpline and 116123 - emotional support help lines. Number 116000 will receive calls announcing about missing children and will be then transferred to police; at this number guidance and support will be provided to the people who take care of missing child, as well as assistance to carry out investigation to locate the child. By means of 116111, assistance will be provided to children in need of care and protection, offering them connection to different relevant organizations and resources. This service will also offer the possibility to express their anxieties, to speak out about the aspects directly affecting them and to contact somebody in emergencies. The service provided via 116123 will allow the caller to benefit from an adequate human attitude, without being judged, the number offering emotional support to callers suffering from loneliness, psychic crisis, or intending to commit suicide.

The mentioned numbers will be assigned on basis of applications to electronic communications service providers, who later will distribute them to be used by content service providers for the corresponding support services. These numbers will be assigned only to providers who have priorly concluded contracts with content service providers.

The text and form of the application are established in the Procedure on assignment of national short numbers for services harmonized at European level, approved by ANRCETI Administrative Board Decision no.18 of 12.07.2011. The applications will be considered and evaluated by ANRCETI based on a grid for the selection of providers – applicants for licenses authorizing the use of national short numbers: 116000, 116111 and 116123, approved by ANRCETI Administrative Board Decision no 06 of 27.03.2012 (doc. in state language).

The grid contains five criteria taken as basis for the evaluation: (1) the nature of the service provided by the applicant, (2) the potential degree of service accessibility, (3) applicants experience in implementing national short numbers, (4) content service provider's ability to ensure the implementation of the service for which the number is assigned and compliance with the special license conditions for the use of short numbers of 116xxx form, (5) timeframe for requested number activation.

The numbers above posess a pan-European identity, being used for the same services in all EU Member States. Calls to numbers 116000, 116111 and 116123 will be free of charge and the access to these numbers will not be subject to a prior registration. During the call to these numbers, any advertising, entertainment, marketing and sales or the use of the call for commercial services are prohibited.

April 27, 2012