Anacom suspends Radiomóvel voice communication service Zapp (amended)

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Anacom published yesterday at the end of the day a determination of 20 October in which it determines that Radiomóvel violated the rules of the National Numbering Plan and also the regulations regarding the mandatory restriction of services to closed groups. The decision obliges the suspension of the recently launched Zapp PPT service, and also covers Jazztel (now Ar Telecom) by assigning a range of geographic numbers to Radiomóvel.

Radiomóvel is already analyzing the situation, intending to contest Anacom’s decision as soon as possible, said João Barbosa, general director of Radiomóvel. the company disputes the interpretation of the communications regulator and says that this suspension, if it moves forward, will have a very strong impact on the service.

The Zapp PTT service was launched in May 2004 and works similarly to the Walkie Talkie service, allowing calls to be made nationwide. According to Anacom’s decision, the service is now suspended for a maximum period of 6 months, and Radiomóvel must now interdict the offer to new customers when geographic numbering is involved.

Current users of the service will also be affected by this ban since Anacom states that Radiomóvel should suspend this service within 15 days, and the information must be communicated to customers within three days.

The decision was taken «as a result of an inspection action on the operation of the services that integrate the offer of the Zapp PTT service by Radiomóvel», Anacom refers in a statement, and also covers Jazztel (now Ar Telecom) that supplied Radiomóvel with the range geographic numbers and the call forwarding service.

João Barbosa, general director of Radiomóvel, assured TeK that the company believes that Zapp PPT is complying with all the rules, being absolutely legal. «Anacom affirms, and writes, that Radiomóvel has the unquestionable right to interconnection», defends this responsible.

Anacom contemplates a period of one month for Radiomóvel to comment on the decision, it is not clear whether the suspension terms will have to be applied now. If the service suspension continues, João Barbosa admits that the impact on the service is very strong because nowadays no user wants to restrict himself to calls within the group, requiring at least the possibility of receiving calls from other networks at his terminals, which Radiomóvel warranty in conjunction with Jazztel’s virtual PBX service.

Just last week, the company launched the Zapp Telemodem service, which is not covered by this Anacom decision.

Editorial Note: [2005-10-26 12:15:00] The news was changed with the correction of the service launch date.

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