FAQs General
Frequently asked questions about ENUM
- What exactly is ENUM?
- What is the history of ENUM in the Netherlands?
- Who is involved?
- What is ENUM NL's role?
- What is ENUM's organisational model?
- How does the system word?
- What is ‘e164.arpa'?
- What can I do withe ENUM?
- How is privacy protected?
- Is ENUM already operating elsewhere?
- Do I have to use ENUM?
- Do I have to do anything to my PC?
- Are any other changes required?
- Can I keep my excisting phone numbers and e-mail adresses?
- What will ist cost to use ENUM?
- How do I become a registrar?
- How do I cancel my ENUM NL registrarship?
- How do I become an ENUM NL validation agent?
- How do I cancel my ENUM NL validation agency?
1. What exactly is ENUM?
ENUM (Electronic NUMbering) is the international name for a new technology that enables telephony and the Internet to be linked together, thus opening the way for all sorts of new applications. However, as with the introduction of mobile telephony and the Internet, the first step is to create the infrastructure. Where ENUM is concerned, infrastructure development consists mainly of setting up and operationalising the Dutch ENUM database or registry, since the Internet and telephone hardware are already in place.
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2. What is the history of ENUM in the Netherlands?
ENUM is an Internet standard defined by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force, www.ietf.org). The implementation of ENUM in the Netherlands was planned in the context of the NLEG. This broad-based working group was chaired by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and its members included representatives of all the main stakeholders in the worlds of telephony and the Internet. In 2002, the NLEG published its final report ENUM in the Netherlands (see www.enuminnederland.nl), which served as the basis for the introduction of ENUM to the Netherlands.
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3. Who is involved?
ENUM NL assumed responsibility for enabling the introduction of ENUM in October 2006. Drawing on the NLEG's final report ENUM in the Netherlands and the proposals made by SIDN/ENUM NL, the ENUM Netherlands Innovation Platform will take forward development of the organisational model for ENUM in the Netherlands. Thereafter, it is a question of market players showing a practical commitment to developing and/or marketing ENUM-based products and services. In other words, the involvement of providers, users and other stakeholders in the introduction of ENUM in the Netherlands and in the platform is essential.
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4. What is ENUM NL's role?
In the interests of clear distinction between SIDN's dot-NL domain management activities and ENUM, a separate organisation has been established: the ENUM Foundation of the Netherlands (ENUM NL). This organisation is currently busy setting up a registry and a platform through which potential market players and other stakeholders will have a voice. The platform will have the job of taking forward development of the organisational model for ENUM in the Netherlands. The role of ENUM NL will be to manage and maintain the national ENUM database (registry) containing the ENUM-registered phone numbers and details of the associated servers (typically registrars' servers) where the registrant's personal contact data are held.
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5 What is ENUM's organisational model?
The organisational model used for ENUM is similar to that used for dot-NL: a single national registry (non-competitive, with a defined field of activity), numerous registrars (commercial organisations) offering ENUM and products/services, and of course end users (registrants) who register their phone numbers in order to utilise the ENUM system. However, the ENUM system will differ from dot-NL insofar as it also requires a validation organisation. This is because registration cannot be on a first-come-first-served basis, since each ENUM domain is directly linked to the corresponding phone number. It will therefore be necessary to check the identity of each applicant and to make sure that he/she is entitled to register the number in question. Identification and validation will formally be the responsibility of the registrar, but registrars may choose to delegate validation activities to a specialist organisation. A validation organisation will need to have a contract with ENUM NL, like a registrar.
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6. How does the system work?
ENUM is the standard method for converting a phone number registered anywhere in the world into an Internet domain name. Contact details are then associated with the domain name corresponding to the phone number. This makes it possible to access the contact details via the Internet. Conversion and data retrieval will be performed using the ENUM system. However, this will be done ‘invisibly' by software installed on a PC, phone or PDA, without the user being aware exactly what is happening.
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7. What is ‘e164.arpa'?
e164.arpa is the name of the Internet domain used for ENUM registrations. The ‘e164' part refers to the international standard for phone number notation: ‘E164' is the title of the international phone number plan managed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU, www.itu.org). This plan dictates the format, structure and hierarchy of phone numbers. The ITU also assigns country codes, but numbers within each country are allocated by the appropriate body in the country concerned. In the Netherlands (country code +31), the body that assigns phone numbers is OPTA (www.opta.nl).
The ‘arpa' part of the domain name indicates the top-level domain within which the name exists (the equivalent of dot-com and dot-NL). The dot-arpa TLD is used exclusively for Internet infrastructure purposes. It was originally created to enable migration from the old address system to the present Domain Name System. The ARPANET was the forerunner of the Internet, created by the United States Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). Nowadays, ARPA stands for Address and Routing Parameter Area.
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8. What can I do with ENUM?
ENUM is a technology that makes it possible to bridge the gap between telephony and the Internet with all kinds of intelligent applications and products. Such applications and products will be made available by market players such as telecom companies, Internet and ICT providers, hardware and software suppliers and other service suppliers. They might include systems that enable you to check out websites by phone, send e-mails from your mobile or call someone via their e-mail address. Other possibilities include synchronising the diaries of people contactable via different media, delivering news updates and all sorts of automated call/message forwarding options.
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9. How is privacy protected?
The linkage of personal details will be possible only with your permission and at your request. No one is obliged to participate in ENUM if they don't want to. And no one needs worry about their privacy being compromised. For example, no link will be made between an e-mail address and an ex-directory or other phone number unless requested.
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10. Is ENUM already operating elsewhere?
Various other European and other countries either already have ENUM systems operating, or are working hard to set them up. See www.enumdata.org for a list of countries where ENUM is active.
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11. Do I have to use ENUM?
No one has to register for ENUM or use ENUM-based services if they don't want to. If you do choose to have your phone number included in the ENUM database, it is entirely up to you which contact details you link to the registered number. The registration of a number and the associated details is done through a registrar, in the same way that a domain name is registered through a registrar (e.g. an Internet service provider). The role of ENUM NL is to process registration applications sent in by registrars and to look after the database in which all the registration details are recorded.
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12. Do I have to do anything to my PC?
No, but you will need one or more ENUM-enabled applications: these may be in the form of software, hardware or external devices.
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13. Are any other changes required?
ENUM makes use of the existing telecommunications infrastructure, so no special equipment or set-up is required. back to top
14. Can I keep my existing phone numbers and e-mail addresses?
Yes, your contact details won't change at all.
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15. What will it cost to use ENUM?
A fee will be payable for registering for ENUM, in much the same way as for registering a domain name. It isn't yet possible to say what the typical registration fee will be, but it is likely to be broadly similar to a domain name registration fee. You may additionally have to pay for the ENUM applications that you use.
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16. How do I become a registrar?
For more information about becoming an ENUM registrar, click here.
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17. How do I cancel my ENUM NL registrarship?
If you wish to end your ENUM NL registrarship, you will need to send us written notice. To take effect at the end of the quarter in which it is received, your written notice must reach us before the fifteenth of the final month of the quarter.
If your written notice reaches us after the fifteenth of the final month of the quarter, your registrarship will run until the end of the following quarter. You will still have to meet any outstanding obligations that you have towards ENUM NL when your registrarship ends. Please note that your registrarship cannot be ended while you remain responsible for any ENUM NL domain names. It is up to you to ensure that any domain names that you are currently responsible for are relocated or cancelled before the date that your registrarship is due to end.
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18. How do I become a validation agent?
For more information about becoming an ENUM validation agent, click here.
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19. How do I cancel my ENUM NL validation agency?
You may cancel your ENUM NL validation agency at any time by sending us written notice. Your agency status ends as soon as you receive written confirmation of the cancellation from ENUM NL. No fees are currently charged for validation agency status. If this position should change in the future, you will still have to meet any outstanding obligations that you have towards ENUM NL when your agent status ends.
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