tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post686011332368072109..comments2024-03-28T09:19:27.451+00:00Comments on RevK<sup>®</sup>'s ramblings: Number porting woesRevKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-47984932263384367362015-06-09T15:16:55.887+01:002015-06-09T15:16:55.887+01:00ENUM is just DNS - DNS caching is already a well p...ENUM is just DNS - DNS caching is already a well proven concept, having been used on the internet for decades for far higher traffic volumes than the PSTN would generate.<br /><br />IMS networks already use DNS internally for routing, it wouldn't be rocket surgery to delegate out to upstream authoritative DNS servers.Steve Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09798286430189689578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-52723545382902659652015-06-05T19:00:14.558+01:002015-06-05T19:00:14.558+01:00Identity thieves want it because it's commonly...Identity thieves want it because it's commonly used as a "secret" identifier for someone (e.g. the "View your licence" service at https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence ). If it were commonly known, they'd lose interest.Simon Farnsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15190608047563530091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-68807759539587319042015-06-05T14:55:16.379+01:002015-06-05T14:55:16.379+01:00If you do that then BT will route the calls to you...If you do that then BT will route the calls to yourselves based upon the number prefix. If someone then ports away from yourselves BT will still send the call to you and you will need to forward it onto the new carrier. So I don't really see how that helps.<br />Within SS7 there are ways of signalling back that the number has changed and give a new number including a porting prefix. If you did this and used an enum lookup to determine the new carrier that would work but that method of porting is not currently supported in the UK.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-48349822511257248162015-06-05T13:42:51.349+01:002015-06-05T13:42:51.349+01:00National Insurance number is something identity th...National Insurance number is something identity thieves want. I'm not sure it's a good idea giving it out to everyone so they can phone you.Owen Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00890951742186614705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-17761888736517687652015-06-05T13:26:57.667+01:002015-06-05T13:26:57.667+01:00I'm already given a "number" at birt...I'm already given a "number" at birth; my National Insurance number (actually letters and numbers but hey). Why can't I be given a telephone number as well or just make the NI number all digits and use that to call me?<br /><br />I would then inorm my telco of my number and they could route to that.<br /><br />Or am I being naive?ContextSwitchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02055385944215236099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-35975830225227314172015-06-05T12:40:27.738+01:002015-06-05T12:40:27.738+01:00If we are talking, initially, for such a system to...If we are talking, initially, for such a system to apply to new blocks (like 04) and new (the last remaining) 1,000 blocks in conservation areas, this is no different to such a block being assigned to some VoIP ISP, and BT cope with that.RevKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-71371446205859483102015-06-05T11:19:48.703+01:002015-06-05T11:19:48.703+01:00Nicholas: OFCOM have considered a central database...Nicholas: OFCOM have considered a central database for all ported numbers and this would be a starting point for RevK's suggestion however there has been no recent progress and I suspect the likes of BT have said it is not possible with their exchanges. You can view the summary at http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/gc18review/summaryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-90615457892550773492015-06-05T10:09:45.135+01:002015-06-05T10:09:45.135+01:00RevK: Yes, perhaps, but that's no reason not t...RevK: Yes, perhaps, but that's no reason not to try doing it.<br /><br />Gareth: Again, yes, but I'm proposing forcing OFCOM's hand. IMHO, it seems to me that everything OFCOM does is to the benefit of big business and the detriment of the little guys. Without a little hand-forcing, I can't see them even considering RevK's entirely sensible suggestion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-63259212372725159132015-06-05T09:50:47.643+01:002015-06-05T09:50:47.643+01:00BT certainly won't route a new number over the...BT certainly won't route a new number over their network without an OFCOM number allocation certificate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-71685123926907659512015-06-05T09:44:33.120+01:002015-06-05T09:44:33.120+01:00Mobile networks each have their own HLR database w...Mobile networks each have their own HLR database which contains information about the SIM and where it is located and includes details of the new network if it has been ported. The OFCOM range holder information is used by mobile networks to indicate which HLR database to query first if the number is not in their own. This sort of does what you suggested.<br />Other numbers are a completely different area though and porting works by the range holder inserting a prefix to the start of the number and then other carriers routing the call to the destination based on that prefix. When you create a new geographic porting prefix with BT you have to tell them the prefix, and then for each exchange lookup which national exchanges they link to and choose the two that you want them to use for your prefix. There are 600+ local exchanges. The engineer then goes and manually configures it on each exchange. So it would be a major change for BT to be able to support anything remotely realtime for number porting directly on the exchange. You deal with BT so you probably have an idea how long that will take :PAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-71252885396032860972015-06-05T09:37:00.693+01:002015-06-05T09:37:00.693+01:00So vodafone originated calls work but O2 ones don&...So vodafone originated calls work but O2 ones don't?<br />What about other networks such as three?<br />If thats the case then it does not sound like a number has actually been ported and complaining to vodafone won't help as there is no issue on their network. It sounds like a number was ported to O2 but the person entered the wrong number when processing it. The O2 HLR database is showing the number as being ported to them but the Vodafone one (who are the range holder I assume) does not have the record indicating the number has been ported to O2.<br />There are various companies with links to the operators HLR databases and it might be worth apporaching them and asking if they would take a look to see what the issue is. Would be some good publicity for them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-5625943437599601182015-06-05T08:27:18.412+01:002015-06-05T08:27:18.412+01:00It would need to be announced in to SS7 somehow, a...It would need to be announced in to SS7 somehow, and I think you can't easily do that without the range being properly allocated by OFCOM. I suspect it would be easier to make a new country code than use 04 numbers, sadly.RevKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-47610765515253082182015-06-05T08:25:10.741+01:002015-06-05T08:25:10.741+01:00Why wait for Ofcom to do anything? If the 04xx ran...Why wait for Ofcom to do anything? If the 04xx range is currently unused, take the initiative. Form a consortium with as many telcos as you can and set up a Nominet-alike (but without the ridiculous joining and range fees), spec it all out and then present it as a fair accompli. I'm sure there are any number of people who would be happy to provide gateway services for those using unenlightened telcos...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-6593716630565038942015-06-04T20:03:00.775+01:002015-06-04T20:03:00.775+01:00Unfortunately in the scenario I have just outlined...Unfortunately in the scenario I have just outlined with your ENUM solution I think the likelihood is that you are going to need to ensure you never have the situation where a provider resolves lookups locally/internally which will presumably be "quicker" and "cheaper" otherwise you will still have the possibility that your ENUM record validly directs calls to Vodafone but O2 still resolve that lookup internally first and find an on-net match.<br /><br />Now you could argue that at the moment that with existing system it could be "fixed" by being making the networks route all calls made by referring them back via the Ofcom range holder and then processing the ported provider tags rather than them resolving them internally - but then that will increase costs no doubt!ann onee-mousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02782243096520475997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-88420690951835131042015-06-04T19:59:04.283+01:002015-06-04T19:59:04.283+01:00Oh dear :(Oh dear :(Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18427000118752159232noreply@blogger.com