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IP Telephony Regulations

• Ernst Langmantel
• Director Technical Division
• Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting
  and Telecommunication
• The opinions expressed in this presentation are
  the personal views of the author and do not
  prejudge decisions of the Austrian regulatory
  authorities.

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Contents

• Limits of Technology Neutrality approach
• VoIP relevant aspects in the new Austrian
  Numbering Ordinance

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Limits of Technology Neutrality approach
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For service regulations it does (should) not
matter ...

• ... what is the technology behind a service
  but as we see today this becomes difficult when
  fundamental regulatory assumptions get affected.
• Fundamental assumptions of the past with regard
  to public telephony
• user terminal has wired/wireless access to the
  network, that provides the telephony service
  (call feature control) in case of mobility
  joint service provision of visited and home
  network -gt roaming, virtual home environment,
• telephony is a special case of a communication
  service,
• if you want to provide telephony you have to
  own/operate a network or must have an according
  contract with a network.
• In the Internet these assumptions are no longer
  true - completely different service/application
  provision models compared with PSTN.

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Internet Voice Communication (1)

• Technical and commercial separation of data
  transport functionality and service/feature
  control user buys service/application neutral
  data transport capability from his ISP (Internet
  Connectivity) and uses/buys additional
  services/applications from other businesses that
  make use of this basic communication service.

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PSTN Network Centric Service Provision
Data Transport Service Provision
User Management Basic Call Control Feature
Control(zB Callback, Call Forwarding)

Network Layer
Establishment of Circuits
Data Link Layer
Physical Layer
Terminal
Network (PSTN Exchanges)
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Internet Services / Applications
Service Provision
Data transport
ApplikationServeror Peer to Peer
ApplikationClientorPeer to Peer
Internet-Connectivity
Network Layer
Data Link Layer
Physical Layer
Network (Internet Router)
Terminal
Server
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Information or Communication Service
Information Service ?
Server
Internet Connectivity (Communication Service)
Client B
Client A
Internet
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Internet Voice Communication (2)

• Is voice communication based on the internet
  therefore to be seen as a service/application
  that is NOT a communication service in the legal
  sense?
• We trend to see it that way as long as there is
  no access to the PSTN.

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VoIP relevant aspects in the new Austrian
Numbering Ordinance
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Topics

• Principles
• Calling party number (CLI)
• Geographic numbers
• Location independent fixed network numbers
  (0-720)
• Joint usage scenario of geographic and location
  independent fixed network numbers
• Numbers for converged services, ENUM (0-780)

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Principles in the Austrian numbering ordinance

• Defined purpose and usage conditions for
  individual number ranges.
• Number ranges available independent of the used
  infrastrucure technology.
• Electronic Communication Service Provider (ECS)
  Electronic Communication Network Provider (ECN)
• ECS is the contractual partner of the subscriber.
• ECN operates the infrastructure and technically
  provides the communication service.
• ECS is at the same time ECN or has an according
  contract with an ECN.
• Numbers (in blocks) are assigned to ECS.

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Calling party number (CLI)

• Regulation in the ordinance is from the
  subscribers (caller/called) point of view.
• CLI information has always to be provided between
  networks, e.g. for malicious call identification,
  mandatory presentation restriction override in
  case of emergency calls.
• Emergency calls
• Calls from network termination points (NTP) with
  geographic (mobile) number gt gt CLI geo
  (mobile) number
• Otherwise a number that can be used for deriving
  location, for callback, for identification or no
  number (mobile without SIM) - in the given
  priority order.
• All other national calls CLI regulation is very
  flexible
• CLI may be any number for which the subscriber at
  the originating side has a usage right and which
  can be used for callback or at least for
  indentification (e.g. additional number for
  private networks in case of calls from NTP with
  geographic number, but also geo number in case of
  mobile call or vice versa, geo number in
  nomadic fixed network usage).
• International calls provide CLI submitted by
  foreign network.

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Geographic numbers (1)

• Purpose usage conditions number allocation
• for the provision of public telephony in fixed
  networks, the provision of additional
  communications services is possible (e.g. SMS).
• addressing location-fixed network termination
  points (to be technically ensured).
• Assignment of blocks to ECS that are also ECN or
  have according contract with ECN that provides
  physical access points in Austria.
• Consequences
• Geographic number associated to physical network
  termination point
• In case of emergency calls the location of the
  caller can be derived from the (static)
  subscriber directory there are many cases of
  emergency the caller is not able to provide
  reliable location information (children, old
  people, caller highly upset/confused/wounded
  etc.).
• If (blocks of) geographic numbers would be
  allocated to any applying ECS in Europe/World not
  providing physical access points in Austria
  number exhaustion with the resulting need to
  increase the number length would be a realistic
  scenario in the Austrian situation from the
  current point of view.

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Geographic numbers (2)
Packet based TSP
Packet network
PSTN
NTP on PATS level (fixed location)
Gateway
NTP (fixed location)
PC-Application or IP-Telephone
NTP ...network termination point
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Geographic numbers (3)
Packet based TSP
PSTN
Packet network
Internet
IP-Adr. x1
Gateway
IP-Adr. x2
NTP (fixed location)
NTP on telephony level 2236-765 765
NTP on PATS level 2236-765 765
nomadic use
Dynamic move of location of geo number forbidden
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720 Location independent fixed network numbers
(1)

• Purpose usage condition (modification of prev.
  personal number range)
• Addressing of subscribers in connection with
  public telephone services, which enable the
  subscriber to hold its number independently of
  the location (nomadic services).
• Similar as in case of mobile (radio) services
  subscriber access on telephony level (NTP)
  follows subscriber to actual usage location.
• At least in the incumbants network not a high
  priced number range for the caller in Austria!

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720 Location independent fixed network numbers
(2)
Packet based TSP (at least gateway)
Emergency Service Center
PSTN
Packet network
Gateway
720-321 321
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Joint usage of geographic and location
independent fixed network numbers (1)
Emergency Service Center
Packet based TSP
Packet network
PSTN
NTP on PATS level 2236-765 765
Gateway
PC-Application or IP-Telephone
2236-765 765 (geo) and additional subscription of
720-321321
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Joint usage of geographic and location
independent fixed network numbers (2)
Packet based TSP
PSTN
Packet network
Internet
Calling no. 2236-765 765 (geo) or 720 321 321
720-321 321
2236-765 765 (geo)additional subscription of
720-321 321
according to CLI rules (subscriber has usage
right for geo number)
nomadic
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780 Numbers for converged services, ENUM

• Purpose of use usage condition
• Especially for communication services, which for
  the addressing use the number and additionally
  the information accessible within the
  corresponding ENUM domain.
• The ECS has at least to offer one communication
  service which provides interoperability between
  users in the circuit switched telephone network
  and the subscribers in the internet (public
  telephony is not mandatory! e.g. SMS, voice lt-gt
  email). Other additional services (without
  interoperability) are not restricted.
• ENUM Delegation as precondition for number
  assignments to ECS and usage.
• Important!Network operators (e.g. in PSTN) need
  not route calls to 780 numbers to the network
  (gateway) of the number holder, but may terminate
  the call directly on the internet based on
  information in ENUM.
• Planned start 4Q/2004.

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Thank you !

• Ernst Langmantel
• Austrian Regulatory Authority
• for Telecommunications and Broadcasting
• http//www.rtr.at
• ernst.langmantel_at_rtr.at
• 43-1-58058-300