Maidan

You cannot hide a pig in a poke. Many Ukrainian users of mobile (and not only) communications face problems with making and receiving international calls. Wondering why?

The Obkom web site informed (with reference to Ukrainian News), that National Commission on Communication Regulation (NCCR) forecasts difficulties with receiving international calls in Ukraine if new SS7 international point codes are not introduced on time. These codes are instrumental in routing international calls.

There can be failures in traffic routing, i.e. calls made to one country may be directed to another, it said.

The problem is that our teleoperators are using point codes that have been already distributed between other countries (Italy and Belgium – M-I) by International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

In addition, NCCR complains that they were not informed in advance, half a year before.

In order to avoid conflicts in the sphere of international communication NCCR made a request to the Ministry of Transport and Communication, representing Ukraine in ITU, to settle this issue as soon as possible.

According to NCCR, new codes are given to operators free of charge but to introduce them, the companies have to make changes to their programs and to inform all the operators, being in roaming with them and rendering international communication services, about the necessity to make changes.

“It is a merely technical matter but it is important and urgent” –

Vasyliy Gandabura, Deputy Minister of Transport and Communication, confirmed that they received the request form NCCR and that the ministry hopes, the parties will settle the conflict.

As a result, the operators will incur financial expenses and will have to reconfigure their equipment as well as that of all international operators, having roaming with them.

In the quotation, I mentioned that it is the Ministry of Transport and Communication that is responsible for relations with ITU; earlier it was the State Committee on Communication and Informatization of Ukraine.

I emphasized this fact not incidentally, because in this situation it is known for sure which of our officials are to blame in the international scandal. Because of their indifference, stupidity and egregious lack of professionalism.

The Maidan web site informed about this as early as on May, 31:

In 2000-2001, ITU allotted Ukraine three new additional international codes (2-214, 2-215, and 2-216). Ukraine was then represented by the State Committee on Communication and Informatization of Ukraine. International codes are given free of charge, SCCI for its part distributed them in Ukraine free of charge as well.

International telephone codes are similar to IP-addresses in Internet. They are instrumental in routing telephone traffic.

Having received the codes, SCCI had to take a set of clearly defined steps to inform ITU that these codes were used. As appeared recently, SCCI did not do that. The reason – whether it be inaptitude, incompetence or something else – is unknown.

One of the three codes, namely 2-214, was given to the Utel Company that decided not to rely upon the Committee and notified ITU about the code 2-214 themselves.

The other two codes were distributed among the following telephone operators: UMC, Kyivstar, URS, Ukomline, Intertelecom, Astelit, and CJSC DCCU.

Further events were funny and sad at the same time. At the beginning of 2006, having received no official confirmation from the Ukrainian “officials-trouble makers” about the usage of the other two codes (2-215 and 2-216), ITU decided, they were not used and gave them to Italy and Belgium!

Do not forget that the equipment of a group of Ukrainian operators is also using these codes! As a result, one and the same code (the same routing address) is used in several countries at the same time. (Imagine that there appeared one more computer with your IP-address. How long will you be able to stay on Internet?)

Such a collision resulted in the deterioration of communication quality: Italians and Belgians received somebody else’s traffic and lost that of their own. They were first to make a noise – what is going on?

The quality of roaming and international communication of the Ukrainian operators suffered as well. It is likely that the quality of domestic Ukrainian communication also deteriorated.

ITU had to respond somehow and has allotted a new code with 7-242 prefix for Ukraine instead of the previous ones recently – now Ukrainian operators, suffering from the incompetence of SCCI (the Ministry of Transport and Communication being its successor) have to spend their time, money, and human resources to change the code again. During the change, clients of the operators will suffer deterioration of communication quality.

We will inform you new details of this sensational story as soon as they are available.

It is worth noting that the Ministry of Transport and Communication is not willing to make the story public – it will be another factor to blemish its reputation.

P.S. We would like to remind you what prevented SCCI from informing ITU about the codes: at that very time they were busy with much more interesting things, trying to take the administration of the .UA domain.

Quotation (O. Prozhyvalsky, deputy head of SCCI, 2003):

On exercising control over the efficient usage of information infrastructure of the country in some telecommunication and computer information systems, the SCCI’s terms of reference of cover the control of the administration of the Ukrainian geographic .UA domain of the global computer information Internet system.

In 2001, SCCI “decided that it was necessary to create a union of enterprises, called “Ukrainian Network Information Center” (UkrMITs), one of its members being an authorized state enterprise, subordinate to SCCI” to take control of the .UA domain.

Fortunately for all Internet users, SCCI officials did not succeed! The story with telephone codes is a vivid example of how good they can work and what effect their work may have on the customers.