OUR extends 10-digit permissive dialling period to March 2019
Published:Tuesday | October 30, 2018 | 3:37 PM
The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has extended the permissive 10-digit dialling period by five months to March 30, 2019.
On May 30, the OUR introduced 10-digit dialling in anticipation of the introduction of a new area code, 658.
To facilitate the transition from 7- to 10-digit local dialling, the OUR had established a 5-month period of permissive dialling during which both 7 and 10 digits may be dialled to complete calls with a reminder message preceding the call completion whenever a 7-digit number is dialled.
All systems and devices used to dial and receive/store 10-digit telephone numbers were required to be made compatible by today October 30.
However, the OUR said that it received several significant requests for an extension from service providers and some of their large business customers, asking for more time to address challenges relating to systems employing machine-to-machine communications and PBX telephone systems.
“The challenges pertain primarily to some older PBX systems, budgetary constraints prohibiting the timely replacement of affected equipment, and the length of time needed to reconfigure thousands of Point of Sale (POS) and alarm systems,” the OUR explained.
Affected customers include hospitals, hotels, security companies, and some major government entities.
“Taking into consideration the financial and security risks involved, the OUR decided to extend the permissive dialling period by the five months,” the regulator said.
“Although disappointed that stakeholders did not indicate the extent of their challenges earlier in the permissive dialling period, the OUR said that it is satisfied that, based on the magnitude of the problem, a resolution before the expiry of the permissive dialling period is not practicable.
“A reasonable extension of time is, therefore, required,” it noted.
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