rah@public.BTR.COM (Richard A Hyde rah@btr.com) (08/25/90)
Hello, I am looking for the name and location of the group that issues Data Network Identification codes (DNIC). Actually, I really need a current list of DNICs, and a source of future updates. Any help is appreciated. Regards, -Rick-
barns@GATEWAY.MITRE.ORG (08/27/90)
I hope you find a source; I don't know of one myself, but would like to. Actually these DNICs get assigned in two parts. There is a Data Country Code of 3 digits and a network digit. The list of Data Country Codes is published in the body of CCITT Rec. X.121. The network digits are assigned by national bodies and as a last resort, can presumably be found out from them. It was my understanding that in the USA, the network digits are allocated by the Federal Communications Commission. According to Rec. X.121, the CCITT Secretariat is supposed to be notified of network digit assignments. Assignment of new DCCs is made by the Director of the CCITT upon request by a member country of the ITU, and the assignment of new DCCs is (it says here..) published in the Operational Bulletin of the ITU. It doesn't say that they ever publish the network digit assignments, but there's probably a list in some pigeonhole over in the Palace of Nations, I suppose. (Soap Box) It is less than pleasing to note that there are CCITT Data Country Codes and ISO Data Country Codes (see ISO 3166). The ISO DCCs have among their many forms a 3-digit numeric form, but the values are completely different from the CCITT DCCs. For example, according to X.121 the DCC for the USA is 310, but according to ISO 3166, it's 840. "The nice thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from." Bill Barns / MITRE-Washington / barns@gateway.mitre.org
enag@ifi.uio.no (Erik Naggum) (08/28/90)
Bill, Thanks for the brief overview of the update process. However, it should be noted that ISO 3166 doesn't specify a "Data Country Code" set, but rather two- and three-character country abbreviations (for a somewhat interesting concept of "country"), as well as a three-digit numeric code for a wide range of uses. The CCITT codes are assigned in Zones, which, hopefully for some reason other than bureaucratic fumbling, is totally different from the Zones defined for ISDN (telephone) numbers. Anyhow, it makes sense to have Zones for their purposes (routing), while, as you are probably aware, the ISO 3166 codes are assigned in order of the alphabetically sorted list of country names in French at the time ISO 3166 was first conceived, with suitably large gaps for "future use". I believe the four-digit DNICs were designed to make it easier to parse an X.121 address, but it's getting pretty damn crowded in some places with their escape codes and maximum of 15 digits. Also, the DCC for USA is not 310, but any of 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315 and 316, and the ranges 317-319 and 320-329 are unassigned, clearly available should the need occur. The one-digit network code is not exactly sufficient for countries with RPOAs instead of PTTs. BTW, ISO 3166 A3 is supposedly leaving us soon. -- [Erik Naggum] Naggum Software; Gaustadalleen 21; N-0371 OSLO; NORWAY I disclaim, <erik@naggum.uu.no>, <enag@ifi.uio.no> therefore I post. +47-295-8622, +47-256-7822, (fax) +47-260-4427
barns@GATEWAY.MITRE.ORG (08/28/90)
Indeed, (I checked the library,) ISO 3166 defines Alpha-2, Alpha-3, and Numeric-3 codes, and calls them all country codes, but doesn't call them Data Country Codes. It is ISO 8348, Addendum 2, that refers to the Numeric-3 codes as DCC values when it tries to define NSAP formats. There is some mumbling in 3166 about the numeric codes being assigned by the United Nations Statistical Office. Apart from that, the maintenance agency for 3166 is DIN. The preface and first couple of sections of 3166 make entertaining reading; it seems that almost every international body in the world has some connection with this document. /Bill
ak2@nvuxr.cc.bellcore.com (Arthur Knapp) (09/07/90)
The CCITT Secretary General publishes an operationl bulletin with the list of assinged DNICs of which it has been notified. As DNIC assignment is a national matter not all folks keep the CCITT current on the true state of affairs. Arthur Knapp