U.S. gets behind ENUM net phone initiative

By Gillian Law, IDG News Service

February 14, 2003 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - The U.S. Department of Commerce has recommended that the U.S. join an international electronic numbering domain system called ENUM.
ENUM is a mapping protocol that links Internet and telephony systems with a single identifier. It was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force and is being implemented in coordination with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB). A global domain, e164.arpa, has been set aside by the IAB for the system.
Under the protocol, each user's phone number would be translated to an ENUM identifier; the system would then recognize all addresses and numbers associated with that signifier, according to the ITU Web site.
In a letter posted on the Commerce Department's Web site Wednesday, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator Nancy Victory wrote to the U.S. Department of State saying that ENUM "has the potential to facilitate convergence of communications networks by linking e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, fax numbers and cell phone numbers for individuals or businesses."
The U.S. should "seize this opportunity and take steps to participate in e164.arpa," said Victory, who is also assistant secretary of Commerce for communications and information.
To date, 13 ITU member countries, including the U.K., have opted into e164.arpa and are beginning trials to establish ENUM services, Victory said. It's time for the U.S. to become more active on this issue, she said.
The NTIA has developed principles to ensure that ENUM can be implemented while protecting competition, interoperability, security and privacy, Victory said. These include preserving national sovereignty and the right to decide whether and how ENUM is implemented.

Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Additional Resources

POLL RESULTS

Leading IT Pros Weigh In on Top IT Issues

Accelerate your knowledge of the IT world you inhabit by viewing the results of a series of polls taken by your IT peers. These polls of 100+ IT professionals each are available for full viewing. They cover key topics such as virtualization, processor performance, green IT, cloud computing and many others. Be a part of the buzz.

WHITE PAPER

For Best Results, Think Beyond the Box

Technology is complex. Keeping it running productively shouldn't be. To that end, you want to minimize the number of solutions needed in-house to simplify operations, maintenance, and support. Kodak offers a best-practices model. One company provides support for both scanner and software, for fast problem resolution without vendor finger-pointing. Download now!

WHITE PAPER

Accelerating the Path to Demand Intelligence with a Demand Signal Repository

Utilizing demand intelligence improves the precision of pricing, product assortments, channel/store placement, and promotion, which are all essential for sustainable revenue management performance. Learn more, download this free whitepaper today.

White Papers & Webcasts

IT Modernization in Government
As IT budgets are slashed, IT management pressures rise and legacy systems linger in government organizations, modernizing the IT infrastructure and applications has...

Usability Is Everything
Learn what sets Workday's HR and Payroll solutions apart from the competition....

Accelerate SSL Encrypted Applications
The amount of SSL traffic is growing in the enterprise. Because it is encrypted, it cannot be properly controlled and accelerated. Blue Coat...

The Value of Real SaaS at Workday
Cost savings, speed to value, and innovation brought to the enterprise by Workday's software-as-a-service solutions for HR and Payroll....

ESG Lab Field Audit
Many companies have successfully implemented Riverbed WAN optimization solutions within their Cisco networks. This ESG Lab Field Audit document explores the success that...

SaaS at Flextronics, Inc.
Dave Smoley, CIO of Flextronics, discusses the real value of software-as-a-service and why he chose Workday for his HR solution....

Shape Your Apps Strategy to Reflect New SaaS Licensing and Pricing Trends
Why are smart companies choosing software-as-a-service? Find out in the complimentary Forrester Research report...

Why Compliance Pays
This OnDemand webcast explores the relationship that firms with best compliance records have higher revenue, greater customer retention, lower financial losses from data...

Natural User Interface for Enterprise Applications
Learn how a revolutionary user interface can make a complex enterprise application so intuitive even casual users can jump right in....

Agile Enterprise Content Management (ECM) for Rapid ROI
Find out how combining ECM and BPM will help adress issues about content rich business processes....

All White Papers | All Webcasts