Melbourne IT services provider Zoak Solutions has won a seven-year contract to build and manage a new telephone number allocation system for Australia.
The deal will see Zoak Solutions build a new allocation system for the Australian Communications and Media Authority, as well as provide number allocation and administrative services from August 2015.
The contract is described by the ACMA as a “significant milestone” in the continuing reform of Australia’s telecommunications regulation and numbering arrangements.
“Numbering is a key addressing mechanism used by the telecommunication industry so the continued supply of telephone numbers to meet demand is very important to the ongoing operation of the telecommunication industry,” Allan Major, ACMA executive manager Technical Regulation & Industry Monitoring Branch, told CRN.
Three bespoke legacy systems will be replaced with “state of the art technology”, while numbering allocation and administrative services will be combined into a single contract. Zoak will provide a larger range of services than those provided by the ACMA’s present outsourced provider, the not-for-profit body Industry Number Management Services (INMS).
This includes running the database, which the ACMA uses to allocate numbers to carriage service providers to be used by consumers. The administration of free phone and local rate and premium numbers will also be handled by Zoak, including 1800 numbers, 13 and 19 numbers.
This will be a “significant” change to the way telephone numbering resources are administered, according to an ACMA statement.
Zoak Solutions secured the agreement after an eight-month competitive tender process.
The company was created last year as the IT services arm of Bombora Technologies Group, which is also behind AusRegistry, the registry operator for .com.au and .net.au as well as other domains in Australia.
-1.jpg&w=100&c=1&s=0)
.png&w=100&c=1&s=0)
