Mobile number portability (
MNP) enables
mobile telephone users to retain their mobile
telephone numbers when changing from one
mobile network operator to another.
Contents
- 1 General overview
- 2 Technical details
- 3 Number Lookup Services
- 4 Mobile number portability by country
- 4.1 Americas
- 4.2 Asia Pacific
- 4.3 Europe
- 4.4 Middle East and Africa
- 5 See also
- 6 References
|
General overview
MNP (Mobile number portability) is implemented in different ways
across the globe. The International and European standard is for a
customer wishing to port his/her number to contact the new network
(Recipient), which then sends the number portability request (NPR) to
the current network (Donor). This is known as 'Recipient-Led' porting.
The
UK &
India
are the only exceptions to implement the Donor-Led system. The customer
wishing to port his/her number is required to contact the Donor to
obtain a
Porting Authorisation Code
(PAC), which is then showed to the recipient network to proceed. Once
having received the PAC the Recipient continues the port process by
contacting the Donor. This form of porting is known as 'Donor-Led' and
has been criticised by some industry analysts as being inefficient,
though prevents MNP scams. It has also been observed that it may act as a
customer deterrent as well as allowing the Donor an opportunity of
'winning-back' the customer. This might lead to distortion of
competition, especially in the markets with new entrants that are yet to
achieve scalability of operation.
Technical details
A significant technical aspect of MNP is related to the routing of calls or mobile messages (
SMS,
MMS)
to a number once it has been ported. There are various flavours of call
routing implementation across the globe but the International and
European best practice is via the use of a central database (CDB) of
ported numbers. A network operator makes copies of the CDB and queries
it to find out to which network to send a call. This is also known as
All Call Query (ACQ) and is highly efficient and scalable. A majority of
the established and upcoming MNP systems across the world are based on
this ACQ/CDB method of call routing. One of the very few countries to
not
use ACQ/CDB is the UK, where once a number has been ported, calls to
that number are still routed via the donor network. This is also known
as 'indirect routing' and is highly inefficient as it is wasteful of
transmission and switching capacity. Because of its donor dependent
nature, indirect routing also means that if the donor network develops a
fault or goes out of business, the customers who have ported numbers
out of that network will lose incoming calls to their numbers. The UK
telecoms regulator
Ofcom
completed its extended review of the UK MNP process on 29 November 2007
and mandated that ACQ/CDB be implemented for mobile to mobile ported
calls by no later than 1 September 2009
[dated info],
Prior to March 2008 it took a minimum of 5 working days to port a number in the UK compared to 3.5 working days in
Pakistan, 2 hours in
USA, as low as 20 minutes in the
Republic of Ireland, 3 minutes in
Australia and even a matter of seconds in
New Zealand. On 17 July 2007,
Ofcom
released its conclusions from the review of the UK MNP and mandated
reduction of porting time to 2 working days effective 1 April 2008. On
29 November 2007,
Ofcom
completed its consultation on further reduction to porting time to 2
hours along with recipient led porting and mandated that near-instant
(no more than 2 hours) recipient led porting be implemented by no later
than 1 September 2009.
In a decentralised model of MNP, a FNR (Flexible Number Register) may
be used to manage a database of ported out/ported in numbers for call
routing.
Number Lookup Services
Service providers and carriers who route messages and voice calls to
MNP-enabled countries might use HLR query services to find out the
correct network of a mobile phone number. A number of such services
exist, which query the operator's home location register (HLR) over the
SS7 signalling network in order to determine the current network of a
specified mobile phone number prior to attempted routing of messaging or
voice traffic.
Mobile number portability by country
Americas
Short notes |
References |
Brazil |
2008.09.01 |
3 |
BRL 4 |
The plan started in March 2007 |
[1] |
Chile |
2012.01.16 |
1 |
free |
The process takes place overnight. |
[2] |
Canada |
2007.03.14 |
0 |
free |
MNP procedure takes 10–20 minutes. |
Dominican Republic |
2009.09.30 |
3–10 |
free |
|
[3] |
Ecuador |
2009.10.12 |
4 |
free |
ASCP handled by Systor, Telconet and JR Electric Supply |
|
Mexico |
2008.07.05 |
|
|
Service handled by Telcordia Technologies and Neoris |
[4] |
Peru |
2010.01.01 |
7-9 |
free |
The user will assume the cost of the new sim card of the new mobile company that will cost around 15 PEN |
|
USA |
2003.11.24 |
0 |
free |
MNP procedure takes 2 hours. |
|
Asia Pacific
Short notes |
References |
Australia |
2001.09.25 |
1 |
free |
Previously prefixes
04x1, 04x2, 04x3 referred to Optus
04x4, 04x5 and 04x6 referred to Vodafone
043x, referred to Vodafone Hutchison Australia formally known as Hutchison 3G Australia.
04x7, 04x8, 04x9 and 0410x referred to Telstra |
[5] |
Hong Kong |
1999.03.01 |
2 |
free |
Service handled by Office of the Telecommunications Authority
(OFTA). In the network, you may be charged unexpectedly for a call to a
mobile that has been ported form a different network. |
[6][7][8] |
India |
2011.01.20 |
7 |
19 |
Customers can port between prepaid and postpaid options. The master database will be managed by a third party firm. For zone I, Syniverse has been appointed with the MNP and related issues while for zone II, it is Telcordia.
The customer should have completed a period of 90 days (from the date
of activation of the mobile connection) with the current operator, to be
eligible for porting to another operator.
To shift your mobile number from one operator to another, a customer
shall send PORT <your Mobile Number> to 1900. You will receive a
unique alphanumeric UPC (Unique Porting Code) as a SMS from 1901 giving 8
digit alpha-numeric Unique Porting Code (UPC) and UPC expiry date in
MM/DD/YYYY format. Visit the office of your new mobile operator and give
them this UPC Code.
|
[9]
[10]
|
Malaysia |
2008.10.01 |
1 |
free |
1 day is a minimum time necessary for porting |
[11][12][13][14] |
Pakistan |
2007.03.23 |
4 |
|
Customers can port between prepaid and postpaid options. On porting
IN, the recipient company provides, free credit and airtime. The service
is handled by Pakistan MNP Database (Guarantee) Limited,[15] the joint venture of all the cellular companies of Pakistan. |
|
Singapore |
2008.06.13 |
1 |
free |
Customers are not able to port between prepay and post pay options. Vendor for database installation is Syniverse Technologies |
[16] |
Taiwan |
2005.10.13 |
3 |
NTD 240 |
|
|
Thailand |
2010.12.15 |
3 |
THB 99 |
Number Portability Clearinghouse service is handled by Telcordia Technologies. 3 days can be just working days. |
|
Europe
Short notes |
References |
Albania |
2010.12.22 |
TBA |
TBA |
Agreement signed on 22-Dec-2010 between AKEP (Authority of
Electronic and Postal Communications) and the service handling company
"INFOSOFT SYSTEMS sh.a.". Service not implemented yet. |
[17] |
Austria |
2004.10.16 |
3 |
|
|
|
Azerbaijan |
2013.03.01 |
6 |
Free |
|
Czech Republic |
2006.01.15 |
|
|
|
[18] |
Belgium |
2002.10.01 |
2 |
Free |
The central solution CRDC has been re-implemented several times. First time it was implemented by Telcordia Technologies US, second time by Cap Gemini Sweden and Belgium, third time by Porthus Belgium. Access to DB: setup fee : €11 000, annual fee: € 3000. |
|
Bulgaria |
2008.04.11 |
2 |
EUR 2.56 |
|
Belarus |
2012.02.01 |
0–3 days |
BYR 0-79.000 |
|
|
Croatia |
2006.10.01 |
5 |
|
5 days is maximum possible period necessary for porting a number. Service handled by HAKOM. |
|
Cyprus |
2004.07.?? |
2 |
Free[19] |
|
|
Denmark |
2001.07.?? |
1 |
DKK 0-29 |
The central solutions is called OCH - Operators Clearing House. Before 2009 it was 30–60 days to trasfer number, now just 1 day |
[20][21] |
Estonia |
2005.01.01 |
7 |
|
|
|
Finland |
2003.07.25 |
5 |
Free |
Handled by the company Numpac |
[22] |
France |
2003.06.30 |
10 |
Free |
Heavily improved since May 2007 with a 10-days maximum lead time (was taking 2 months in most cases before then) |
|
Germany |
2002.11.01 |
6 |
EUR 25 |
The average price charged is about € 25. The exact amount depends on the old provider. A price limit of € 30.72 was set by the Bundesnetzagentur. |
[23] |
Greece |
2003.09.?? |
|
|
Service handled by Telcordia Technologies |
|
Hungary |
2004.05.01 |
8 |
Free |
|
|
Iceland |
2004.10.01 |
10 |
Free |
10 days is maximum possible period. Service handled by Telcordia Technologies |
|
Ireland |
2003.07.25 |
0 |
Free |
|
|
Italy |
2002.04.01 |
3 |
|
|
|
Latvia |
2007.??.?? |
10 |
Free |
|
|
Lithuania |
2004.01.01 |
28 |
|
Service handled by Telcordia Technologies |
28 days is a maximum possible period |
Luxembourg |
2005.02.01 |
1 |
|
Managed by the G.I.E Telcom E.I.G. operator group and developed, installed and operated by Systor Trondheim AS. |
|
Macedonia |
2008.09.01 |
|
|
The reference database was developed, installed and is presently operated by Seavus Group. |
|
Malta |
2005.07.31 |
0 |
|
4 hours is a period necessary to port a number. |
Netherlands |
1999.04.?? |
3 |
|
|
[24] |
Norway |
2001.04.01 |
5 |
NOK 0 - 200 |
Administrated by the National Reference Database (NRDB). The
reference database was developed, installed and is presently operated by
Systor Trondheim AS. |
|
Poland |
2006.02.?? |
|
Free |
To be administrated by the National Central Database (PLI-CBD) run
by Office of Electronic Communications (UKE). 30-day max porting time is
to be reduced to 1 day. |
|
Portugal |
2002.01.01 |
5-10 |
Free[25] |
Operated by Portabil S.A. Solution implemented by Systor Trondheim AS of Norway. |
|
Romania |
2008.10.21 |
3[26] |
Free |
Developed by UTI Systems based on the Porthus implementation |
[27] |
Slovakia |
2004.05.01 |
4 |
EUR 5 |
Price is different for each operator. Portation request can by set max 2 months into the future. |
|
Slovenia |
2005.12.31 |
5 |
EUR 5 |
5 EUR is a maximum possible price |
|
Spain |
2000.10.?? |
2[28]-10[29] |
Free[30] |
|
|
Sweden |
2001.09.01 |
5-6[31][32] |
Free |
The largest operators formed independent company, SNPAC AB, to
procure central database (CRDB) solution. Implementation of CRDB is
carried out by Cap Gemini & Oracle. |
|
Switzerland |
2000.03.?? |
5 |
Free[33] |
|
|
Turkey |
2008.11.09 |
6 |
Free |
AVEA and Vodafone hired Gantek to implement central database (CRDB)
solution and donated it to Turkish Telecommunications Regulatory
Authority. Number Portability Clearinghouse service handled by Telcordia Technologies |
|
United Kingdom |
1999.01.?? |
9 |
Free |
|
[34] |
Middle East and Africa
Short notes |
References |
Egypt |
2008.04.?? |
|
|
NPC serves the centralized administrative and provisioning role of MNP. Number Portability Clearhouse is handled by Telcordia Technologies, where Giza Systems is the system integrator. |
|
Ghana |
2011.07.07 |
typically 5-10 min., max 24 hours |
Free |
Central system operated by Porting Access Ghana, under authorisation from National Communications Authority |
|
Israel |
2007.12.03 |
3–4 hours |
Free |
Service includes landline as well as mobile numbers |
[35] |
Jordan |
2010.06.01 |
1 |
7 JOD |
Service is not implemented, but is still planned. TRC started the
process in 2005 and released the official bid to implement and operate
MNP during September 2009. |
[36] |
Kuwait |
2010.12.31? |
|
|
The Minister of Telecommunications has stated that the service
should be available before the end of 2010. However a number of delays
have been reported in the media. |
|
Nigeria |
2013.04.30 |
Within 48 hours |
Free |
NCC (Nigerian Communications Commission) has adopted a phased
approach to the launch of Mobile Number Portability service in Nigeria.
The process to port to CDMA networks will begin as soon as the GSM
porting process is completed and launched. Mobile Number Portability
will initially be available among the GSM mobile operators: MTN,
GLOBACOM, ETISALAT, and AIRTEL. |
[37] |
Oman |
2006.08.26 |
|
|
Implemented as a decentralized solution by Porthus for Nawras, and by Gulf Business Machines/Telcordia for Oman Mobile. |
|
Saudi Arabia |
2006.07.08 |
|
Free |
Managed by the Centralized Clearinghouse Approach, through the NPC (Number Portability Clearinghouse), a product of Telcordia Technologies. The implementer and system integrator is Giza Arabia. |
|
South Africa |
2006.11.10 |
|
|
The three operators, Vodacom SA, MTN SA, and Cell C,
formed an independent company for the implementation and management of
the central solution. After delays, the implementation of this solution
was awarded to local company Saab Grintek teamed up with Telcordia Technologies. |
|