The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced on Monday that it will start allotting new mobile number series starting with 7 (Level 7) from July 17.
It will make available 10mn new numbers to accommodate expected demand in the coming period.
According to a statement issued by TRA, all numbers will be available to subscribers through telecom companies except for special ones (diamond/golden numbers). “Operators are currently working in coordination with TRA to prepare the regulatory and legislative frameworks to manage the process of an electronic auction to allocate the special numbers of these blocks in a transparent manner. The allocation of these numbers will start later by the licensees once the auction hosting scheme is prepared.”
TRA has said that introduction of the new number series comes in view of the expansion in the ICT sector, the growing demand and due to the exhaustion of Level 9 number blocks.
In this context, TRA has said that the Level 7 block numbers starting with 7 provide an additional option for users rather than an alternative to the currently used Level 9.
TRA is committed to implementing the National Numbering Plan to meet the increasing demand for both fixed and mobile phone numbers among general users and businesses.
The authority has said that it worked closely with the operators to launch this new number series after studying the technical aspects.
Source: MuscatDaily