Flow, Digicel back number portability
Published:Sunday | February 19, 2012 | 12:00 AM
McPherse Thompson, Assistant Editor - Business
Triple-service provider Columbus Communications, which trades as Flow Jamaica, said its network infrastructure was already capable of supporting local number portability (LNP) and it was committed to working with stakeholders to ensure its im-plementation as quickly as possible.
In the meantime, Digicel Jamaica has now openly declared its support for local number portability.
"Digicel is supportive of the implementation of number portability in Jamaica but cautions that this must be done with regard to the mobile and fixed line markets in order to continue to promote fair competition in our local telecoms market," said the group's head of public relations, Antonia Graham.
Asked about Flow's position on number portability, president and chief operating officer, Michele English said in emailed responses to Sunday Business: "We believe that this is necessary to make the telecommunications landscape more competitive."
The introduction of local number portability, she said, would give consumers the flexibility to retain their number whenever they make the decision to change carriers in order to get the best value for their telephone service.
"This is particularly important for corporate and business customers who, in the absence of LNP, will incur all the costs associated with announcing new contact numbers when they decide to change service providers," said English.
Network infrastructure
Flow said the basic network infrastructure required for number portability is a number portability database - accessible to all service operators - which provides routing addresses for ported numbers.
The company offers digital cable television, digital landline and Internet broadband.
According to English, "Flow's network infrastructure is already capable of supporting local number portability and we are committed to working with the regulators and carriers to ensure that this is implemented as soon as a decision has been made on this matter."
She said the company continued to support any effort either by the telecommunications industry generally or by individual carriers for the implementation of number portability.
Referring to the merger of mobile telephone market leader Digicel Jamaica with Claro Jamaica, English said that "highlights the importance and imperative that the Government and the regulators mandate that this functionality be adopted by all operators within a specific period in the near to medium term".
Digicel merged with Claro after acquiring its assets in Jamaica last year and has since served notice that it intends to shut down that network come March 1.
English also noted that both Digicel and LIME, which operates in several other Caribbean markets, were already implementing network portability in the Cayman Islands where it is now a requirement of that country's information and communications technology authority.
Digicel and LIME are among a consortium of telecommunications companies working on the project, which was scheduled for roll-out on January 31. However, cayCompass.com reported recently that the implementation date has been pushed back to February 20 to give the operators enough time to complete testing.
The Flow president said Digicel has also implemented number portability in the French West Indies, including Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guinea where it operates. "LNP must definitely be adopted for the Jamaican market as a requirement of all operators," she said.
Mandated by the EU
But Digicel's Graham, said number portability was mandated by the European Union to be a feature of the French West Indies telecoms system before the company entered the market.
English said Flow has been in dialogue and consultation with the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) regarding number portability for a number of years.
She explained that in the fourth quarter of 2010, the OUR reported to the industry that consultants they had hired to determine the economic feasibility of the implementation of number portability reported that it was in fact economically feasible to do so. However, since then not much has been heard from the OUR in relation to implementation.
In addition, she pointed out that at a seminar hosted by the Mona School of Business in 2011, Flow is on record as stating that the absence of LNP in such a matured telecoms market represented the single most important impediment or obstacle in bringing about true competition to the telecoms sector in Jamaica.