Revised Operating Instructions for e164.arpa (ENUM)

The RIPE NCC is the operator of the e164.arpa zone (ENUM) and maintains the associate registry in accordance with the instructions of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB). As delegations are based on e164 country code allocations, any changes to the registry are coordinated with and approved by the respective holders of the E.164 country code via the ITU’s Telecommunications Standardisation Bureau (TSB).

Recent checks have shown that over time, many of the current 57 delegations have deteriorated – they are no longer technically functional or the contacts details for the country code registry have not been updated.

Seeking advice from the IAB on these matters, they agreed to revise the instructions to address these issues. Among the changes is new text regarding the deletion of delegations and instructions that allow the RIPE NCC to do periodic checks on registry data.

This will allow us to initiate a process to review the existing delegations and coordinate with the registries, governments and the TSB to mitigate and correct any errors. In cases where we are unable to correct an error, we will advise the government involved to remove the delegation, until such time that a new registry can assume responsibility for the country code and restore its technical functionality.

ITU Study Group 2, which is responsible for the E.164 number registry, shared our concerns and at its last meeting agreed to update its instructions to the TSB to reflect these changes. As we remain committed to coordinating any delegations with TSB, the Member States involved and Study Group 2, we welcome the study group’s renewed interest in the topic and its support in reviewing and updating these registrations.

The new instructions have now been published on our website and, with the IAB’s approval, we will now operate the registry in accordance with these.