The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will soon implement the Mobile Number Portability Act that allows users to retain their mobile numbers even if they switch telco starting September 30, 2021.
Also known as R.A. 11202, the law makes mobile numbers “portable,” ensuring consumers that they may keep their mobile numbers for free if they ever switch to a different telco provider or change their subscription plans from prepaid to postpaid and vice versa. According to the measure, telco companies should allow their consumers to keep their mobile numbers free of charge. It should also only take companies 48 hours to completely process the switch or subscription change.
Under the Mobile Number Portability Act, locking-in of a network to a mobile device is prohibited.
Telecommunication firms will be fined a fee of up to PHP 1 million should they fail to follow the law. Their franchise to operate will also be revoked should they still “unjustly refuse even after mediation” by the fifth time.
According to Deputy Commissioner Edgardo Cabarios, the implementation of the law was delayed due to the pandemic. R.A. 11202 was signed last February 2019.
The country’s major mobile operators, Globe Telecom, PLDT subsidiary Smart Communications, and Dito Telecommunity, previously formed a joint venture using fresh investments to enable the new mobile number portability initiative of the government. The major telcos will start the interoperability testing by June 2021.
The mobile operators chose Syniverse, a global company that provides technology and business services for telecommunications companies. It is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, U.S., to be the mobile number portability service provider (MNPSP).
via CNN Philippines
