| (1) | The Authority must make regulations prescribing— |
| (a) | a numbering plan which must be amended and updated as the Authority considers necessary— |
| (i) | for efficient use and allocation of numbers; and |
| (ii) | to accommodate the varied protocols used and services provided by licensees under this Act; and |
| (i) | the creation of a national number portability database; and |
| (ii) | cost allocation and cost recovery among licensees. |
[Section 68(1)(b) substituted by section 29 of the Electronic Communications Amendment Act, 2014 (Act No. 1 of 2014)]
| (2) | A numbering plan must consist of a scheme of identification so as to ensure that electronic communications are correctly and efficiently directed to the point of reception for which they are intended. |
| (3) | Subject to subsection (7), the Authority must, in preparing a numbering plan, take account of existing numbering plans or schemes. |
| (4) | The numbering plan contemplated in subsection (1)(a) must be non-discriminatory. |
| (5) | The Authority must maintain and manage a central numbering database system. |
| (6) | Every individual electronic communications service licensee and individual electronic communications network service licensee, as applicable, must submit information on all numbers, including numbers of pre-paid subscribers allocated in terms of its licence, to the Authority. |
| (7) | The regulations made in terms of subsection (1) must include matters relating to— |
| (a) | the fees licensees must pay for the allocation of numbers to recover administration costs; |
| (b) | the conditions under which a licensee may be required to surrender unused numbers to the Authority for reallocation; |
| (c) | the allocation of responsibility between electronic communications service licensees and electronic communications network service licensees for the implementation of the numbering plan and number portability to— |
| (i) | ensure effective functionality; |
| (ii) | ensure access and routing within electronic communications networks; and |
| (iii) | allow licensees to assign numbers to subscribers and transfer numbers when subscribers change services in an efficient manner without unreasonable delay or disruption of service; |
| (d) | the protection for consumers including disclosure of consumer rights relating to— |
| (i) | numbers and number portability; and |
| (ii) | the process and procedures to be followed for resolving subscriber complaints and affording subscribers remedies in the form of discounts and credits when the electronic communications network service licensee or electronic communications services licensee fails to meet its obligations under this section; and |
| (e) | a framework, including a schedule for transforming the numbering plan to a non-geographic numbering system taking into account similar non-geographic numbering plans adopted in other jurisdictions and implementation of electronic numbering, allowing the inter-operation between telephone numbers and the Internet domain name system. |
