Changes in telephone dialing and impacts on your organization

As of August 3, 2019, in accordance with new rules issued by Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT; Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones), dialing any fixed line or mobile phone will only require the input of 10 digits: the long distance key number plus local number. Prefixes “01”, “044” or “045” will no longer be required.

The new regulation became necessary due to the entry of new players in the market and the increase in the demand for communication services, whether fixed or mobile.

For this reason, the Mexican Department of Telecommunication considered it appropriate to migrate to a uniform 10-digit dialing system for any call made within the country, regardless of whether they are local or national long distance calls. Prefix “01” is no needed anymore.

Users will no longer be required to dial “1” to call a mobile phone in Mexico from abroad. While international fixed and mobile telephone operators shall adapt their networks so that calls from abroad to local mobile numbers under the “Caller pays for national tariff” mode, will be made as follows:

• + 52 + 1 + National Number.

This new regulation will facilitate phone calls within the country and benefit the availability of numerical resources for all.

The following are some technical impacts on the management of a communication network:

• Administrators of switches or of any device connected to the public telephone network must configure their communication equipment in order to comply with national regulations, since all fixed and mobile telephone operators shall do so.
• Without the help of specialized software, it will be almost impossible to distinguish calls tomobile or fixed numbers, either in the same location or outside it.
• People should update their phonebook by eliminating prefixes “044” or “045” from mobile numbers of their contacts.

Some administrative impacts on companies:

• Companies seeking to differentiate calls made by their staff to fixed or mobile numbers will be unable to do so without appropriate software tools.
• Companies where a FAC (Forced Authorization Code) code is used to make calls, shall update their policies, since there will be no distinction between calls to a fixed number from any pary of the country or to a mobile phone.
• The adoption of this measure has no impacts on the current rates applied by the operators.

Many companies still do not see the impact of this new regulation, however they are exposed to the risk that by applying the changes required, their telephone expenses may increase due to lack of visibility or control.

Ikusi, through Keytia platform, is ready to play in the market in compliance with this new regulation and to apply the same by managing calls and establishing the relating cost (commonly known as charging), in addition to other value modules for the management of telecommunications expenses. Users who already have Keytia, benefit from an added value: in case a new regulation is adopted transparently in the service, there will be no impacts on their costs.