It was a day we all knew was coming, but no one quite wanted to think about or admit. The surge in demand that has come over the past few years for cellular services in Australia now means that we will soon run out of 04XX mobile phone numbers. The country already has more cellular subscriptions than people, sitting at about 24.5 million subscriptions as of the middle of 2011. Many of those subscriptions proudly established by those of us with telecommunications careers here at Android Australia.

In an announcement today the Australian Media and Communication Authority, ACMA, announced amendments to the national numbering plan. That includes changes to the landline numbering system and the addition of an 05XX cellular …

A recent public inquiry which was run by the ACMA found that the overall annual cost incurred by people who choose the wrong mobile plan which doesnt suit their needs amounts to over $1.5 billion AUD. Unfortunately the costs are not limited to the consumers. The complaints process amounts to around 108 million dollars and telcos suffer around 113 million dollars a year writing off bad debts incurred by customers who can not afford to pay the bill.

As a result the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code (TCP) was announced earlier today, and will act as a firm set of guidelines for all Australian telcos. These guidelines will advise major telecomunication gucompanies on how to conduct themselves around customers in order …