Regulations For International Presence

Local and Toll Free international numbers are often subjected to regulation requirements and as previously discussed; experience, having the right contacts and persistence are a necessity to allow a smooth order, and setup process of these numbers. However, it’s also an area that is increasing with extra regulations for international presence.

A lot of the increase in the regulations could potentially be down to an EEA push to have better and eventually full visibility of all individuals or companies that are using international based numbers, for the likely purpose of mitigating security risk and fraud.

For example; over the last 12 months alone there have been several major changes to country phone number regulations that have come into effect which prompt theories on the willingness for more visibility of owners and also fraud prevention:

• In both China and South Korea it is not permitted to resell numbers for profit unless prior approval is granted from Government officials.
• France National/Toll Free and Mobile numbers can no longer be sold to companies that wish to resell the service. These can only be provided to end users.
• France Geo numbers can only be provided to companies that have an address (supported by a business certificate) within the same geographic area as the DDI.
• Luxembourg DDIs can only be sold to companies that are registered with the ILR (Lux regulatory body) in order to provide full visibility of service. There is a document that needs to be submitted to the ILR, with an accompanying cheque for 2500EUR, to allow this service.
• Italy introduced a centralised database with details of all end users. When activating DDIs the reseller must provide end user details supported by proof of address and proof of ID documents.
• Belgium has introduced the same database type as Italy.

The above provides a few examples as to why it is vital that when looking for international numbers that you are obtaining them through a company that has the right experience and contacts in order to be able to deliver your request in a viable time frame and advise you on the right numbers and the right way to get them.

You are more than welcome to speak to us if you are thinking about going internationally with your phone number presence or if you are looking to expand your current selection and you are not sure on the regulations, then we can work through those for you too, making a international number setup easier.