Michael Minges Senior Market Analyst
ENSURING TELECOMMUNICATIONS SUCCESS AROUND THE WORLD
Mobile Number Portability
Mobile Number Portability (MNP) • Ability of a mobile subscriber to keep their telephone number when changing service provider • TMG published a detailed report on the subject last year, which is available at: http://reports.tmgtelecom.com/
Portability in the World Number of countries with mobile number portability 50 48 40
43 38
30 26
20
28
19 10 0
1
1
4
6
10
14
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Sep08
Proportion of total mobile number ports to total mobile subscribers 70%
Finland
60% 50% 40% 30% 20%
USA UK
10%
Holland
0% 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Number of years since the introduction of MNP
8
9
Churn & MNP 70% 60% 50%
% churn without porting number % churn with porting number
40% 30% 20% 10% 0% UK
Italy USA Israel Japan Spain Taiwan Korea Ireland Poland Austria France Finland Greece Norway Hungary Sweden S. Portugal Africa Pakistan AustraliaDenmark Germany Lithuania Belgium Singapore N. Zealand Hong Kong Slovak Rep Czech Rep. Switzerland Netherlands
Brazil & Mexico
Launch
9/08-3/09
7/2008
R$ 4 (US$ 2) (max)
One charge for administrative costs that each operator must register with the regulator. To date, no charges have been registered so MNP has been at no cost to the user.
Time
< 5 days
Between 2 - 13 days
Ported numbers (accumulated through Mar-09) (% of total subscribers)
442â&#x20AC;&#x2122;570 (0.29%)
256â&#x20AC;&#x2122;615 (0.34%)
Charge to subscriber
Portability in Latin America & the Caribbean Country
Planned launch
Ecuador
2009
The National Assembly approved a draft law requiring the introduction of MNP in 2009.
Dom. Rep.
2009
Has fixed the date as a requirement of CAFTA-DR.
Peru
2010
In May 2008, the Ministry of Communications announced that MNP would be introduced in 2010.
Panama
2010
Foreseen after a public consultation.
Chile
2010
After a public consultation in 2006, the costs of MNP were felt to outweigh the benefits. However, recent press reports suggest that MNP might be introduced by 2010.
Colombia
2012
In May 2008, a parliamentary commission approved a law that would introduce MNP before 2012.
Note
Benefits & Costs • Benefits • Reduces barrier for user changing operators • Companies do not need to reprint information about themselves when changing number • Increases competition
• Costs • Implementation costs • Tariff transparency
Implementation Routing
Indirect - not optimized
Direct - optimized
Data base
Only own numbers ported
Central
Mobile termination charge
Possible
No transit
Signaling
Minimized, but more traffic for the More, because all calls have to be donor network verified
Billing
More complicated
Less complicated
Other considerations • • • •
Pre-paid Numbering Cost recovery Fixed
Conclusions â&#x20AC;˘ Who does a mobile number belong to? â&#x20AC;˘ Ideal implementation: recipient network driven; central database with neutral administration; direct routing; and short port times and low or no direct costs for the user â&#x20AC;˘ The principal argument against MNP is the implementation cost. Although most studies show that the benefits exceed the costs, some analysts claim that MNP is not economically viable in small markets.
minges@tmgtelecom.com
ENSURING TELECOMMUNICATIONS SUCCESS AROUND THE WORLD
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