Phoneline for missing children pends reassignment

The Romanian telecom watchdog ANCOM today announced that between November 24- December 23, telecom operators can apply for the national number 116000, which is especially dedicated to the social service “Emergency phone lines for missing children”.

Until October 22, 2015, the right to use this number belonged to Telekom Romania, and the service was provided by the Romanian Center for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children (FOCUS).

The service that should be provided via this phone number, which has the same format across all EU member states, should be available non-stop nationally, being able to take up calls that are reporting the disappearance of children, which are then transferred to the police. Also, the persons who are taking care of a missing child who call this number will receive guidance and support. The number will be available free of charge to everyone and does not require previous registration, the telecom watchdog says in a press release.

The number can be allocated to one single telephony provider which should prove that it is capable of supplying and implementing the service. Consequently, together with the application, the interested operators should also submit a series of documents that should certify that they are able to provide the service (such as a previous contract signed with a provider of social services).

In case ANCOM receives requests from various providers, the line will be assigned to one of them based on a score board that evaluates the capacity of the supplier to ensure the service for which the number is allocated, the technical solution that will be used, how accessible the service is as well the experience of the applicants in implementing short national numbers as well as the term for activating the number.