The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has launched an online numbering portal.
According to the regulator, the numbering portal is an online tool developed by ICASA to facilitate the management of the national numbering resource.
It notes the portal serves as a centralised platform for efficient and transparent management of national telecommunication numbers.
It ensures optimisation of the national number range, and promotes regulatory compliance, providing scalability and flexibility, it adds.
ICASA is mandated to manage the national numbering resource and allocates numbers to individual electronic communications service licensees, which in turn assign numbers to individual and business subscribers for their use.
Telecommunication “numbers” are a means of accessing a vast range of communications services and carry much useful information, such as service type, cost of access, and, in some cases, geographic location.
According to ICASA, one of the key functions of the numbering portal is to streamline the numbering application and reporting process.
The portal will also facilitate the process of applying for telecommunication numbers and enhance reporting and compliance.
Licensees can submit their numbering requests through the portal, making the process more convenient and reducing the potential for manual errors, the regulator says.
Furthermore, it notes, the portal will assist the licensees in complying with the regulatory guidelines and requirements related to numbering resources, in line with the numbering regulations.
“The numbering portal is a massive milestone for the authority, as it will allow us to effectively monitor and audit the allocation process and the use of numbering resources nationally. The portal will also provide a process to track and analyse resource usage, numbering resource planning and allocation, “says ICASA acting chairperson Yolisa Kedama.
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