DIAL 388 FOR EUROPE?

The code 388, reports Communicatons Week International, will coexist with established country codes, but be independent of them. If implemented, it will enable carriers to offer corporate users single European number services for pan-European call centers and help desks.

But some observers doubt whether the new option will have a major impact.

They say the World Wide Web is already providing services, such as a single URL home page, which might otherwise have been based on a regional numbers scheme, and they point out that the cost of implementing the new code across all of Europe's carrier switches may far outweigh its real market benefit.

But advocates of the regional number plan, agreed by a study group of the ITU at a meeting last week, are jubilant.

"I feel exuberant," said Vivienne Peters, the International Telecommunications User Group's representative at the meeting. INTUG represents national user groups across Europe, Asia and the United States and its corporate members include Unilever, Danone, Reuters and American Express.

Europe's new number, to be ratified at the ITU Plenary meeting, is expected to be 388, plus a further digit that is likely to be 3.

Although it does not have quite the tidiness of North America's "1" code for ease of use and memorability, enterprises are still enthusiastic, claiming it will be used by European-based businesses and organizations to create a European identity and cut back the lists of numbers for European offices that they publish to the outside world.

"It will give Europe an identity [and] 388 will give us the opportunity of having a single point of [access] in Europe, for merchants, distributors and customers," said INTUG's Peters. "We need this application and we believe that, with the number of call centers growing, there is a demand both for the consumer and the business side."

The code was requested from the ITU by 21 European countries, including the 15 European Union member states and Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Slovenia, Slovak Republic and Switzerland. The motivation behind establishing such a code was political - it gives Europe a single identity.

But there are misgivings about the new code. Operators are concerned about the cost of implementing the service. And some analysts question whether the code's sell-by date has already passed, its role taken over by a company's URL. "It's too little too late," said Claire Milne, an independent numbering consultant.

This is the first time that the ITU has awarded such a code to an economic region. Indeed a previous attempt to introduce a pan-European code was thwarted in May last year. One question raised then was why Europe should be awarded the code at all, and whether other regions would demand one.

The awarding of a European code, however, will not preclude attempts by other regions to secure their own codes.

This is not the first time, however, that enterprises have had an international dialing scheme at their disposal. There is already an international freephone number, but uptake has been limited. The reason, according to INTUG's Peters is that freephone is a heavy financial burden to bear. "We were all very interested, but it's a very expensive service," said Peters.

Another reason why enthusiasm for international freephone has been muted is the growth of the Web, according to Milne.

Information that was supplied through freephone call centers is now available on-line, said Milne, and the Web could similarly sweep away demand for 388 services.

"Many of the applications for international toll-free have been taken up by the Internet," she said. "Similar arguments are bound to apply to 388."

Another obstacle to rapid rollout of the service may be the very operators that will provide services using the code.

"We would like to see a solid cost/benefit analysis of any proposal for general implementation," said a spokesperson for the Brussels-based European Public Telecommunications Network Operators Association (ETNO), which represents 46 operators. "For the moment, we remain doubtful whether there is any real market demand. The claim that it will help promote European identity is not sufficient justification for going ahead."

Telecom Eireann, which last year took part in a trial of the number's operational feasibility with Swedish operator Tel^e2, U.K. television broadcaster, the BBC, and the Financial Times, pointed out that the test it performed was strictly non-commercial and gave no indication of the financial implications for operators or what user demand may be.

"The cost of implementing 388 hasn't been looked at," said a spokeswoman for the Dublin-based carrier.

Operators said they would have to upgrade switching and routing software to recognize the new number, as well as construct a whole new numbering database.

The four-digit number fixed upon, 388X, will be followed by a further eight digits supplied from a new numbering scheme. Corporate users say numbers of that length will be perfectly manageable, even in a commercial applications such as customer support.

But operators are scathing about the fact that they should be forced to implement a scheme they have resisted in different forms for five years.

"There were various plans [for a European numbering scheme] in the [19]90s," said the ETNO spokesman. "The least unfavorable was 388."

Other ideas touted during the years have included putting a 3 before existing country codes, a move that ETNO resisted.

"For the purpose of us feeling a little more European, [the sentiment was]: Forget it," said the ETNO spokesman.

There are lots of potential uses for 388, however, according to both the European Telecommunications Organization (ETO) in Copenhagen and INTUG, many of which have yet to be thought of.

"We've looked at basic apps," said INTUG's Peters. "Now we're drilling down to see how it could save costs."

Those basic applications include handing out a single number to suppliers and distributors.

"Corporate networks and VPNs will provide significant demand for (388) applications in addition to innovative providers of European services," said a spokesperson for the ETO. "Virtual mobile services are also emerging as potential applications or a regional numbering resource following the liberalization of the mobile local loop."

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