The new range will include 193 and 194 numbers of a six-digit length, and 195 and 196 numbers of an eight-digit length, and will apply to both premium rate SMS and MMS services. Consumers will be able to send a message to these numbers, and will pay on their mobile phone bill for the services received -- much like current 190 premium rate voice calls.
"We've been under pressure for six to nine months to do this," ACA member Allan Horsley told ZDNet Australia . "We've had pressure from application service providers to [introduce] a new range with short and longer numbers to market new services." He said the industry saw the numbers as potentially being as successful as the 13 number range.
The services include competitions held by televisions stations, for example voting off people on Big Brother, special weather forecasts, or even information on the cheapest petrol in the area, according to Horsley. It also opens up mobile commerce with a payment system that is relatively secure and familiar to most people.
There have been problems with the current system of 190 premium rate numbers, including Internet Dumping, where consumers are unwittingly disconnected from their Internet connection and reconnected to another line charged at a higher rate - up to AU$5.50 per minute. The Federal Government recently directed the ACA to increase the regulation of premium numbers. Horsely said the problem was less likely to be an issue with premium messaging services, but added that providers would have to operate consistent with a code of practice.
"At the moment the maximum you can run up on a [premium rate] call is AU$160 -- that seems a little high," said Horsely. He said that monthly caps that were introduced for premium rate voice calls would also apply to the premium messaging service.
One of the reasons the 19 ranges were chosen was because "well developed consumer protection arrangements apply to 19 services under the Telephone Information Service Standards Council (TISSC) code of practice and these could easily be extended to cover additional premium rate services".
The TISSC and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman share jurisdiction over billing, the standard telephone service, mobile services, Internet access, privacy, industry codes of practices and fault repair. The Australian Direct Marketing Association has also developed a draft code of practice for its members regarding the use of mobile technology for marketing purposes.
The ACA pointed out that the number of bodies involved meant that some issues may not be covered or there could be confusion over who to contact in any situation, and said the industry needed to develop information for consumers about the complaint handling process.
The service is expected to be available in the fourth quarter of this year, as the ACA needs time to change the 'national numbering plan'. In the meantime companies are using the 188 number range to test the service as a temporary measure. The system is already in use in other countries such as the UK, where it is known as 'reverse SMSing'.
