Telecoms operators to bear portability set-up costs
Published:Wednesday | June 19, 2013 | 12:00 AM
The draft number-portability rules submitted for public review by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining indicates that individual mobile operators are likely to bear the costs of making their systems ready as well as contribute to the set-up costs of a central database.
Portability means the process of switching from the telecommunications network of one operator to another, without changing numbers. Number portability is being encouraged by the ministry as one measure to level the playing field in the telecoms market.
The ministry notes that number portability allows consumers to choose a service provider based on service, quality and price, rather than on a desire to retain a particular telephone number.
Queries as to how the costs would be shared were not addressed during a press briefing held recently by state minister with responsibility for technology, Julian Robinson.
However, the rules posted on the ministry's website said that "each operator - operator being an entity that runs a public telecommunications network - shall bear its own system set-up costs associated with making its network and support systems number-portability capable".
It added that "joint and common costs, including the recurring costs of a centralised database and/or centralised order handling system shall be shared among the operators".
In the United States, according to a March 2013 report commissioned by Neustar, Inc, which currently administers that country's number-portability system, indicates that the implementation of the system, with a minimum two-hour lag time between request and transfer, has saved consumers billions of dollars in savings annually.
benefits of efficient infrastructure
In the report titled The Consumer Benefits of an Efficient Mobile Number Portability Administration, Navigant Economics Managing director Hal J. Singer is quoted as saying that an efficient and reliable number-portability infrastructure reduces porting time and lowers the cost of changing service providers, giving consumers and businesses greater choices when it comes to their telephone operator.
Singer said that United States wireless consumers enjoyed annual savings of $8 billion to $10 billion between 2005 and 2010 because of mobile number portability, which was implemented in 2004.
Savings are also being proposed by Robinson.
He said that drafting and gazetting of number-portability rules should be completed by July this year, while procurement of the central database will be conducted from June to September.
A timeline of between September this year and March 2014 has been set for implementation and testing activities for network readiness.
Robinson announced the establishment of an informal number-portability working group comprised of representatives of the main providers - Digicel, LIME and Flow - as well as the ministry and the Office of Utilities Regulation.
Timelines for porting, as indicated by the draft rules, include five working days for individual fixed-line numbers, 10 working days for blocks of 100 or more fixed-line numbers, one working day for individual mobile numbers, and two working days for individual mobile numbers that require additional authorisation.
The rules said that a recipient operator shall not order number portability for any subscriber without having received a request from that subscriber for the service.