The French Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ART) adopts management rules for the national numbering plan

Paris, 24 February 1998

The French Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has adopted management rules for the national numbering plan.

The rules lay down in clear and precise terms the manner in which ART will fulfill the responsibilities conferred upon it by the 1996 Telecommunications Act with regard to the French national numbering plan: “Art. L.34-10 - A national numbering plan shall be established and controlled by the telecommunications regulatory authority. It shall ensure equal access for users to the various telecommunications networks and services and equivalent numbering formats.... "

ART's decision sets out the procedures themselves (concerning reservation, allocation, control, formal approval, publication...) and translates the general legal provisions of the Act into a precise and practical framework for processing numbering applications.

Numbering has important implications for:

- consumers - the end users of numbers;

- telecommunications operators, which need this scarce resource in order to develop services and traffic;

- businesses, which have to design and manufacture equipment and software.

In order to boost development and spur innovation in telecommunications services, all operators will have access to:

- short four-digit numbers beginning with 36 or 32

- short four-digit numbers beginning with 30 or 31

- non-geographic numbers beginning with 08.