Number Portability

EN

SU

RIN

G TE

LEC

OM

MU

NIC

ATIO

NS

SU

CC

ES

S A

RO

UN

D TH

E

WO

RLD

1

Number Portability

August 4, 2009Session 10

Kosovo Telecommunications Regulatory Authority Training (August 3-14, 2009)

Telecommunications Management Group, Inc.

2August 4, 2009 Session 10 - Number Portability

Overview

• What is number portability?

• Number portability development– World– European Union– “Enlargement Countries”

• Number portability implementation


Number Portability

• Right of a telephone subscriber to keep their number when changing service provider

• Applies to both fixed and mobile• “Number portability is a key facilitator of

consumer choice and effective competition” [European Commission]


Directive 2002/22/EC 7 March 2002

Article 30: Number portability1. Member States shall ensure that all subscribers of publicly available telephone services, including mobile services, who so request can retain their number(s) independently of the undertaking providing the service: (a) in the case of geographic numbers, at a specific location; and (b) in the case of non-geographic numbers, at any location. This paragraph does not apply to the porting of numbers between networks providing services at a fixed location and mobile networks.


Directive 2002/22/EC 7 March 2002

Article 30: Number portability (cont’d)

2. National regulatory authorities shall ensure that pricing for interconnection related to the provision of number portability is cost oriented and that direct charges to subscribers, if any, do not act as a disincentive for the use of these facilities.

3. National regulatory authorities shall not impose retail tariffs for the porting of numbers in a manner that would distort competition, such as by setting specific or common retail tariffs.


Mobile Number Portability in the WorldNumber of countries with mobile number portability

1 1 4 610

1419

26 28

3843

48

0

10

20

30

40

50

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Sep-08


Mobile Number Portability in EU

• Mobile ported numbers have increased during the past period (October 2007-October 2008) (+14.1million) and as of October 2008 almost 60.7 million subscribers have ported their number since the introduction of this possibility.

• Since MNP was introduced in the EU, 10.3% of mobile subscribers have ported their numbers.

• Finland has the highest percentage of ported numbers over the total of mobile subscribers (68.7%) followed by Denmark (40.0%) and then Spain (35.5%).

Source: European Commission


Percentage of mobile ported numbers over total mobile subscribers, October 2008

21.1

%3.

2%40

.0%

1.4%

7.4%

5.9%

35.5

%5.

2%24

.6%

19.8

%1.

7%3.

0%5.

5%10

.0%

1.9%

11.8

%13

.8%

3.8%

0.6%

1.5%

5.8%

0.4%

68.7

%29

.2%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

BE CZ

DK

DE

EE EL

ES FR IE IT

CY LV LT LU HU

MT

NL

AT PL

PT SI

SK FI SE

Source: E

uropean Com

mission


Status of MNP in Enlargement Countries

Country Launch NoteCroatia Oct.06 72,200 numbers ported (3/09); 1.2% of total mobile numbers

Macedonia Sep.08 1,897 numbers ported (3/09); 0.04% of total mobile numbers

Turkey Nov.08 Around 1.2 million numbers ported; around 2% of total mobile numbers

Albania Not implemented Planned 2009

Bosnia Not implemented Planned 2009

Montenegro Not implemented Legal basis in Law on Electronic Communication

Serbia Not implemented No legal basis

Kosovo Not implemented No legal basis

Source: Adapted from Cullen.


Kosovo mobile market

• Lowest penetration among enlargement candidates

• New competitor entered market in December 2007

Ipko35%

Vala65%

Kosovo mobile

market share 2008

Source: TM

G, Inc.

Source: Telekom

Slovenije.


MNP in countries with population < 2.5 millionCountry Launch Population.

000s*Iceland Oct-04 320.5Malta Apr-06 412.6Luxembourg Feb-05 491.7Cyprus Jul-04 801.6Estonia Jan-05 1 340.3Macedonia Sep-08 2 048.9Slovenia Jan-06 2 053.4Latvia Jun-06 2 261.1* 2008, Source: EUROSTAT.


Fixed Number Portability in EU

• As of October 2008, almost 24 million subscribers in 23 Member States have ported their number since the introduction of this possibility (more than 6.5 million from October 2007 and October 2008).

• According to the data for 23 Member States, the EU weighted average price as of October 2008 for a fixed number ported is € 6.7. In Estonia, Lithuania, and Germany there is no charge for the porting of fixed numbers.

Source: European Commission


Status of FNP in Enlargement Countries

Country Launch NoteCroatia Jul.05 285,700 numbers ported at March 1, 2009

Macedonia Sep.08 7,051 numbers ported at March 1, 2009

Turkey May 09

Albania Not implemented Planned 2009

Bosnia Not implemented Planned 2009

Montenegro Not implemented Legal basis in Law on Electronic Communication

Serbia Not implemented No legal basis

Kosovo Not implemented Legal basis in Telecom Law

Source: Adapted from Cullen.


Implementation process

• Public consultation• Number Portability regulation• Establish NP implementation group • Create database

NP implementation in Brazil


March 2007: Resolution 460, General Regulation on Portability

April 2007: Portability Implementation Group created

Sep. 2006: Public Consultation “734”

Sep. 2008: NP starts in some regions

March 2009: NP available in all of Brazil


Implementation issues: Routing & database

Indirect routing Direct routingDatabase Distributed (donor network

only keeps track of its own ported numbers)

Distributed (QOR) or Central (ACQ)

Mobile termination issues

Likely since call must be re-routed from original network

Unlikely

Signaling Minimized, but more traffic for the donor network since ported numbers must be forwarded

With Query on Request (QOR), some signaling because rejected calls must be checkedWith All Call Query (ACQ), more signaling because all calls have to be verified

Billing More complicated Less complicated

Costs

• Main argument against NP• How to allocate costs among various

stakeholders:– Regulator– Operators– Consumers


Cost allocation in New Zealand

“Per-operator set-up costs are not driven by porting customers and will be incurred irrespective of whether customers port their numbers. Rather, these costs are part of the investment that any operator needs to incur in order to provide telecommunications services in a competitive market.”

Cost category Cost bearerIndustry common system costs

Each operator according to market share

Per-operator set-up costs

Each operator

Per-line set-up costs

Recipient network pays donor network

Call conveyance costs

Originating network


Commerce Commission of New Zealand


Implementation issues:Other

• Pre-paid• Numbering• Tariff transparency• Fixed<->Mobile• User awareness


Conclusions• The principal argument against number portability is the

implementation cost – Who does a mobile number belong to?– In hindsight, NP forms part of costs of competitive mobile market

• Ideal implementation: – recipient network driven – central database with neutral administration – direct routing – short port times– low or no direct costs for the user

EN

SU

RIN

G TE

LEC

OM

MU

NIC

ATIO

NS

SU

CC

ES

S A

RO

UN

D TH

E

WO

RLD

21

Thank you!Mr. Michael Minges

Senior Market [email protected]

Telecommunications Management Group, Inc.1600 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 710

Arlington, VA 22209USA

Tel: + 1.703.224.1501Fax: + 1.703 224.1511

www.tmgtelecom.com

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.tmgtelecom.com/

Documents

Number Portability