Universal Personal Telecommunications
Encyclopedia
Universal personal telecommunications (UPT) is a special segment of the international telephone number space which has been set aside for universal personal telephone numbers. This service has been allocated country code +878. UPT numbers differ significantly from Personal Numbers which are embedded as an Area Code within the national Telephone numbering plan
. For example Area Code 070 within the UK plan.
The International Telecommunication Union
(ITU) introduced this concept in 2001, referring to it as "global number portability". However, number portability normally refers to the service of keeping an existing phone number after moving service to another provider.
or other services. A UPT provider basically must have the ability to receive connections from the international telephone network, and then forward the called number to the individual's real number. This would have a similar effect to toll free numbers in not having a geographic connection to particular ranges of numbers, yet a UPT call would still incur a charge.
By year 2007 only one body, VISIONng
http://www.visionng.org/ (an international association), has been allocated a range within the +878 country code. The delegation of +87810 was requested by VISIONng chairman Herwart Wermescher and was confirmed by Counsellor, SG2 of ITU-TSB Richard Hill on May 21, 2002. The company's Sentiro website http://www.sentiro.com/ currently allows individuals to rent UPT numbers. The number costs £12 (GBP) a year with a one off registration fee of £10 (excl. VAT). This also includes an experimental ENUM
service. Since 10/2007 some 700,000 users of the VoIP pioneers FWD are provisioned with the global country code +87810. FWD’ers http://www.freeworlddialup.com/ can now be contacted from all VoIP ENUM enabled networks, without the callers having to find and add a prefix. They have to dial +878101393 followed by a 6 digit FWD subscriber number.
related to a UPT user, which information is required to provide that user with UPT service such as subscriptions to basic and supplementing services and call
-routing
preferences.
Each UPT service profile is associated with a single UPT number.
A user may have multiple UPT numbers (such as a business UPT number for business calls and a private UPT number for private calls). In the case of multiple numbers, each UPT number is considered, from a network
vantage point, to identify a distinct UPT user, even if all such numbers identify the same person or entity.
services offered by these networks.
To the UPT user the UPT environment appears as a single global network
that provides personal mobility
. However, when utilising telecommunication services, the UPT network user may be limited by restrictions imposed by the network, by the capabilities of the terminal
and network used, or by regulatory requirements.
Telephone numbering plan
A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunications to allocate telephone numbers to subscribers and to route telephone calls in a telephone network. A closed numbering plan, such as found in North America, imposes a fixed total length to numbers...
. For example Area Code 070 within the UK plan.
The International Telecommunication Union
International Telecommunication Union
The International Telecommunication Union is the specialized agency of the United Nations which is responsible for information and communication technologies...
(ITU) introduced this concept in 2001, referring to it as "global number portability". However, number portability normally refers to the service of keeping an existing phone number after moving service to another provider.
The UPT service
A UPT phone number is intended to be an internationally consistent number which an individual can acquire, which can then be used for contacting them via telephoneTelephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
or other services. A UPT provider basically must have the ability to receive connections from the international telephone network, and then forward the called number to the individual's real number. This would have a similar effect to toll free numbers in not having a geographic connection to particular ranges of numbers, yet a UPT call would still incur a charge.
By year 2007 only one body, VISIONng
VISIONng
is a non-profit making association dedicated to support its members for the deployment of worldwide inter-domain and multi-vendor IP Telephony services....
http://www.visionng.org/ (an international association), has been allocated a range within the +878 country code. The delegation of +87810 was requested by VISIONng chairman Herwart Wermescher and was confirmed by Counsellor, SG2 of ITU-TSB Richard Hill on May 21, 2002. The company's Sentiro website http://www.sentiro.com/ currently allows individuals to rent UPT numbers. The number costs £12 (GBP) a year with a one off registration fee of £10 (excl. VAT). This also includes an experimental ENUM
Enum
ENUM or enum may refer to:* E.164 NUmber Mapping, a suite of protocols to unify the telephone system with the Internet* An enumerated type, a data type consisting of a set of named values...
service. Since 10/2007 some 700,000 users of the VoIP pioneers FWD are provisioned with the global country code +87810. FWD’ers http://www.freeworlddialup.com/ can now be contacted from all VoIP ENUM enabled networks, without the callers having to find and add a prefix. They have to dial +878101393 followed by a 6 digit FWD subscriber number.
UPT service profile
The UPT service profile is a record that contains all informationInformation
Information in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...
related to a UPT user, which information is required to provide that user with UPT service such as subscriptions to basic and supplementing services and call
Telephone call
A telephone call is a connection over a telephone network between the calling party and the called party.-Information transmission:A telephone call may carry ordinary voice transmission using a telephone, data transmission when the calling party and called party are using modems, or facsimile...
-routing
Routing
Routing is the process of selecting paths in a network along which to send network traffic. Routing is performed for many kinds of networks, including the telephone network , electronic data networks , and transportation networks...
preferences.
Each UPT service profile is associated with a single UPT number.
UPT number
The UPT number uniquely identifies a UPT user and that is used to place a call to, or to forward a call to, that user.A user may have multiple UPT numbers (such as a business UPT number for business calls and a private UPT number for private calls). In the case of multiple numbers, each UPT number is considered, from a network
Telecommunications network
A telecommunications network is a collection of terminals, links and nodes which connect together to enable telecommunication between users of the terminals. Networks may use circuit switching or message switching. Each terminal in the network must have a unique address so messages or connections...
vantage point, to identify a distinct UPT user, even if all such numbers identify the same person or entity.
UPT environment
UPT environment is the environment within which the UPT service facilities are offered, consisting of combinations of networks and UPT service control facilities that, when combined, enable UPT users to make use of telecommunicationTelecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
services offered by these networks.
To the UPT user the UPT environment appears as a single global network
Telecommunications network
A telecommunications network is a collection of terminals, links and nodes which connect together to enable telecommunication between users of the terminals. Networks may use circuit switching or message switching. Each terminal in the network must have a unique address so messages or connections...
that provides personal mobility
Personal mobility
In Universal Personal Telecommunications , personal mobility is the ability of a user to access telecommunication services at any UPT terminal on the basis of a personal identifier, and the capability of the network to provide those services in accord with the user's service profile.Personal...
. However, when utilising telecommunication services, the UPT network user may be limited by restrictions imposed by the network, by the capabilities of the terminal
Terminal (telecommunication)
In the context of telecommunications, a terminal is a device which is capable of communicating over a line. Examples of terminals are telephones, fax machines, and network devices - printers and workstations....
and network used, or by regulatory requirements.