FAQs

Frequently asked questions by both industry and consumers.

These frequently asked questions are designed to help you better understand the NAD and the numbering regime in New Zealand.

The NAD is a multiparty agreement that administers the New Zealand Numbering Plan, in particular, New Zealand's E.164 numbers as defined by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).  It is governed by a Management Committee, consisting of representatives from each NAD member, a User Representative and the Number Administrator.  

The NAD administers New Zealand's numbering resources on behalf of the telecommunications industry for the long term benefit of end-users.

To join the NAD you must be a New Zealand Resident (be a New Zealand registered company or have a place of business in New Zealand) and provide, or intend to provide, Public Switched Telecommunications Services in New Zealand.  If you fulfil these two criteria, you can apply to become a member by contacting the Number Administrator. We will review you application and get back to you with the next steps.  For more information, click here.

The annual membership fee is set by the Management Committee annually and is usually around $10,000pa.  There are also administrative fees if you wish to obtain numbers, currently set at $500 per Code Block. 

The NAD Register contains the details of all telephone numbers in the New Zealand Numbering Plan and records whether the Code Block is spare, reserved by a Party, or activated for use in the PSTN.  The Register will show which NAD party currently has what Code Block allocated, but it does not display individual telephone numbers.  The use of these numbers will only be known by the relevant NAD Party and their customer.  

The Register only shows allocations of New Zealand numbers to NAD members, any sub-allocations by those members to third party resellers is not recorded by the NAD.  Such detail will only be known by the Parties involved.  

No, these codes are administered directly through the Mobile Network Operators or their agent.  

The NAD administers New Zealand's E.164 numbers (local numbers, mobile numbers etc) but doesn't administer Signalling Point Codes or Mobile Network Codes.  To enquire about obtaining these numbers, you should start with the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment.  

Number Portability in New Zealand is administered by the New Zealand Telecommunications Forum and governed by the Determination handed down by the Commerce Commission in 2005.

Before a NAD Party can activate and use a Mobile (Non Geographic) or Local (Geographic) number, they must first apply for and obtain access to the Industry Portability Management System and be ready to port numbers. 

The Number Administrator can advise and assist prospective parties with questions surrounding access to IPMS.

No, the NAD Deed stipulates that if a NAD Party decides to leave the NAD, they must relinquish all of their numbers and either turn off the services still active on those ranges, or handed the ranges over to a continuing NAD Party.

The Number Register depicts each Service Category with the minimum and maximum number length for each range as set out in the current Rules.  There may be historical anomalies which mean some ranges were activated with number lengths that differ from these.  To see the length of all internationally diallable ranges (ie ranges which can be dialled from overseas) you can review the New Zealand Dialling Plan, available on our Resources page.

Note: This plan omits the leading 0 from all telephone numbers, ie "027" becomes "27" in the plan.  Accordingly, all number lengths are shown as 1 digit shorter than they would appear to a New Zealand based user.

The New Zealand Dialling Plan (available on our Resources page) is designed to depict what New Zealand based telephone ranges are diallable from international locations.  This plan is consistent with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) guideline E.164, and is kept by the ITU on their website for international reference. Because some New Zealand numbers (like toll free) are not diallable from overseas, they do not appear on the plan.

If you are a supplier of telecommunications services and you need to obtain a list of all locally diallable ranges and their number lengths, you should contact your service provider (or your customer's service provider) in the first instance.  Each NAD Member maintains their own dialling plan and each will be unique.

To get numbers from the NAD you have to be a NAD Member.  NAD membership is restricted to New Zealand Residents who provide Public Switched Telecommunications Services.  In most cases, this excludes Over the Top providers.  In order to obtain numbers from the New Zealand Numbering Plan, you should contact a NAD Member directly to discuss becoming a Wholesale customer.  

Each telephone number is part of a larger Code Block.  The NAD Number Register will tell you who currently has a Code Block allocated to them and in many cases, this will be the carrier of the number you are interested in.  However, with Number Portability for Geographic (Local) and Non-Geographic (Mobile) numbers, there is no way to tell for certain if the carrier has changed or not.  

If you are a telecommunications provider and you need to know the host carrier for Local and Mobile numbers, you should contact the New Zealand Telecommunications Forum's Forum Administrator in the first instance, to request access to the Industry Portability Management System.