ENUM Trial Information

Trial Overview

The Australian ENUM trial begins on 6 June 2005, and ran for 24 months. During this time, Instra offered free ENUM domains to service providers and end-users. Instra was one of just three accredited providers for Australian ENUM domains.

The Australian ENUM trial was managed by the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) in consultation with the Australian ENUM Discussion Group, of which Instra remains an active member.

Technically, the Australian ENUM trial operated in much the same way as the .au domain name system. ENUM domains are treated as regular domain names and use the standard domain name system (DNS). ENUM 'pointers' are kept on Instra's name servers, and will forward any ENUM communication to the relevant service, such as VoIP phone or email address. Participants can modify their pointer records by logging in to their control panel.

Phases of the Trial

The ENUM trial was staged in three phases, with each based essentially on the types of E.164 numbers to be used.

Phase 1 of the trial used a new number range of Australian E.164 numbers which were specified in the Telecommunications Numbering Plan 1997, but were not allocated to any Carriage Service Provider (CSP) prior to the commencement of the trial. These numbers could only be used for registration as ENUM domain names during the trial and were not allocated in association with a specific carriage service.

Phases 2 and 3 of the trial continued the arrangements from Phase 1 but also sought to introduce existing digital mobile and geographic numbers which have already been allocated to CSPs. These phases tested issues related to enabling anyone to register their existing number as an ENUM domain name. Phases 2 and 3 didl not commence until suitable arrangements had been developed by the AEDG to cover: Who had the right to register an existing number as an ENUM domain name; and how a customer’s existing right to use was to be verified by a Registrar.

ENUM-Specific Numbers
Phase 1 of the trial used ENUM-specific numbers that had been specified under the Numbering Plan for during the ENUM trial only. These were E.164 telephone numbers which could only be used for the purpose of being registered as an ENUM domain name and were not allocated in association with any other carriage service. The 10 digit, 059 range was specified for use as ENUM specific numbers during the trial. This range provided 10 million numbers that were available for use in phase 1 of the trial. These numbers were exempt from annual numbering charges (ANC) for the duration of the trial. The use of ENUM-specific numbers provided a low risk approach that enabled the trial to commence in the short term. As these numbers are not already issued to an end-user in association with a separate service, the potential complexities regarding rights of use of other types of numbers that were registered in phases 2 and 3 were avoided.