DATAFON LIMITED 

NUMBER LOOKUP – TECHNICAL PRODUCT 

DESCRIPTION 

DECEMBER 2024 

VERSION A.04 

Table of Contents 

1 - INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 3 

1.1 - ABOUT DATAFON........................................................................................................................ 3 

1.2 - NUMBER LOOKUP SERVICES.......................................................................................................... 3 

2 - MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY (MNP) LOOKUP SERVICE............................................................ 4 

2.1 - SUPPORTED PROTOCOLS............................................................................................................... 4 

2.2 - ENUM QUERY FORMAT............................................................................................................... 4 

2.3 - ENUM RESPONSE....................................................................................................................... 5 

2.4 - UNSUCCESSFUL QUERY RESPONSE................................................................................................... 5 

2.5 - RESPONSE CODE DEFINITIONS........................................................................................................ 6 

3 - HTTP RESPONSE........................................................................................................................ 7 

3.1 - SUPPORTED PROTOCOLS............................................................................................................... 7 

3.2 - HTTP LOOKUP QUERY FORMAT...................................................................................................... 7 

3.3 – HTTP RESPONSE........................................................................................................................ 8 

3.4 - UNSUCCESSFUL QUERY RESPONSE................................................................................................... 8 

3.5 - RESPONSE CODE DEFINITIONS........................................................................................................ 8 

4 - CUSTOMER SUPPORT – SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT................................................................... 9 

4.1 - HOURS OF OPERATION AND CONTACT INFORMATION........................................................................... 9 

4.2 - FAULT RESOLUTION TIME.............................................................................................................. 9 

4.3 - TARGET RESPONSE TIME............................................................................................................... 9 

4.4 - ESCALATION MATRIX.................................................................................................................. 10 

Datafon are a provider of data, intelligence and analytics, helping customers find extra value from the information they hold. Our team of technology and telecommunications specialists has a proven track record empowering companies, brands and agencies around the world to better understand their businesses and their customers. 

Datafon has a suite of technology and telecommunications data available, for further information, please visit www.datafon.co.uk or email info@datafon.co.uk 

Datafon provide Lookup services to determine the status and validity of any mobile phone number from anywhere in the world. 

We currently offer the following Number Lookup related services: 

1. Mobile Number Portability (MNP) Lookups 
2. Home Location Register (HLR) Lookups 

The scope and technical specifications for these services are discussed in the following sections. 

At the time of writing, the ENUM protocol is offered as Datafon’s standard communication protocol for Number Portability services. The HTTP and HTTPS protocols may be supported as required.  

The parameters for communication are: 

Record-Type: NAPTR 

Domain: api.2datafon.co.uk 

IPs for the service: To be provided during provisioning, referred below as DFIP Port: 5353 

With / Without Host Names 

ENUM resolution operates much like reverse DNS lookup. To perform the lookup, the E.164 number needs to be transformed as follows: 

Remove non-numeric characters such as spaces, +, dashes, etc. (e.g. number “+40 766610060” should be transformed to “40766610060”). 

Reverse the digits and add a dot between every digit (e.g. 40766610060 becomes 

0.6.0.0.1.6.6.6.7.0.4) 

Add suffix domain e164.arpa (e.g. the number now becomes 0.6.0.0.1.6.6.6.7.0.4.e164.arpa 

After transforming the number, perform a DNS lookup looking for NAPTR records: 

# dig @DFIP -p 5353 0.6.0.0.1.6.6.6.7.0.4.e164.arpa IN NAPTR 

; (1 server found) 

;; global options: +cmd ;; Got answer: 

;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 18515 

;; flags: qr; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0 

;; QUESTION SECTION: 

; 0.6.0.0.1.6.6.6.7.0.4.e164.arpa. IN NAPTR 

A successful query will return a NAPTR Record with a tel-uri in the format tel:+msisdn. 

Example: 

;; ANSWER SECTION: 

0.6.0.0.1.6.6.6.7.0.4.e164.arpa. 864000 IN NAPTR 100 10 "U" "E2U+pstn:tel" "!^(.*)$!country=null\;operator=null\;mcc=604\;mnc=001\;ported=false\;err=0!" . 

;; Query time: 3 msec 

;; SERVER: DFIP#5353(DFIP) 

;; WHEN: Thu May 4 15:04:56 2023 

;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 187 

The parameters returned are based on RFC4694 (https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4694): 

tel – the original number queried 

npdi – NP Database Dip Indicator (indicates to any downstream systems a portability lookup has been performed) 

rn – Routing Number (LRN for USA/Canada) 

cic – Carrier Identification Code  

cc – Country Code cn – Carrier short name  nt – Number type (mobile/fixed) mcc – MCC of the network (if mobile nt) mnc – MNC of the network (if mobile nt) 

ported – Whether the number has been ported or not 

Unsuccessful queries will be responded to with status NXDOMAIN and a blank answer section. 

Example: 

# dig @62.67.222.167 -p 5353 0.6.0.0.1.6.6.6.7.0.4.e164.arpa IN NAPTR 

; (1 server found) 

;; global options: +cmd ;; Got answer: 

;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 18515 

;; flags: qr; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 3, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0 

;; QUESTION SECTION: 

; 0.6.0.0.1.6.6.6.7.0.4.e164.arpa. IN NAPTR 

;; ANSWER SECTION: 

0.6.0.0.1.6.6.6.7.0.4.e164.arpa. 864000 IN NAPTR 100 10 "U" "E2U+pstn:tel" "!^(.*)$!country=null\;operator=null\;mcc=604\;mnc=001\;ported=false\;err=3!" . 

;; Query time: 3 msec 

;; SERVER: DFIP#5353(DFIP) 

;; WHEN: Thu May 4 15:04:56 2023 

;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 187 

• Response Code “0” – OK – No error 
• Response Code “-1” – No MCCMNC found for the requested destination address 
• Response Code ‘’-2’’ – Unidentified Prefix 
• Response Code “-3” – No valid MCCMNC found for the requested destination address or no translation rule is found for the returned error code/status 
• Response Code “-4” or “-6” or “-7” – System timeout 
• Response Code “-5” – The number specified is blacklisted 

At the time of writing, the The HTTP and HTTPS protocols are offered as Datafon’s standard communication protocol for Number Lookup services.  

The parameters for communication are: 

Record-Type: HTTP POST 

Domain: mnp.datafon.datafon.co.uk 

Credentials: To be provided during provisioning (a Username and Password) 

The request can be raised using either the http and https protocols in the following syntax: 

“protocol”://mnp.datafon.datafon.co.uk/hlr/mccmnc_request?login=”username”&password

=”password”&dnis=”number” 

This syntax can be understood as: 

• Protocol: The http or https protocol as preferred 
• Username: The username provided to you by Datafon for the use of this service 
• Password: The password provided to you by Datafon for the use of this service 
• DNIS: The number to be queried*  

*Remove non-numeric characters such as spaces, +, dashes, etc. (e.g. number “+40 766610060” should be  transformed to “40766610060”). 

An example Lookup request would be: 

https://mnp.datafon.datafon.co.uk/hlr/mccmnc_request?login=acmecorp&password=letmei n&dnis=40766610060 

A successful query will return a response in the following format: 

Example: 

{"mccmnc":"60401","result":0,"ported":0,"dnis":"40766610060","login":" acmecorp"} 

This syntax can be understood as: 

"mccmnc": returned 6-digit MCCMNC 

"result": shows if the result is successful (0 – yes, other values - no) 

"ported": shows if the number is ported (0 - no, 1 - yes) 

“dnis”: the number queried 

“login”: the username used to raise the lookup request 

Please note ‘0’ means the result was successful.  

A unsuccessful query will return a response in the following format: 

NOTE: A response does not contain an MCCMNC: 

{ 

"result": -1, 

"ported": 0, 

"dnis":"12345678910", "login": "login", "message": .. 

} 

Please note ‘-1’ means the result was unsuccessful. 

The following values can be returned for an unsuccessful response: 

"result" : -1 - No MCCMNC found for the requested destination address 

"result" : -3 - No valid MCCMNC found for the requested destination address or no translation rule is found for the returned error code/status 

"result" : -4; -6; -7 – System timeout 

"result" : -5 – the number is blacklisted 

message: contains extended information in regard to the requested number 

The time of Datafon’s initial response to the Customer’s request for the Technical Support services and the deadline for settling the request depend on the type of the request. The full list of all possible request types and the time of response and resolution deadlines for each request type are provided within this document.  

The type of request must initially be defined by the Customer in an explicit manner. However, Datafon may change the request type according to Datafon’s own evaluation of the essence of the request. When Datafon are not able to provide a solution on the Customer’s request within the declared period, Datafon shall immediately notify the Customer about this and shall exert all reasonable efforts aimed at settling the request. 

Response time is triggered at the time of notification by Customer to Datafon Support via one of the error reporting interfaces provided. 

The below table summarises the escalation levels available from Datafon in response to operational issues with the service: