Mobile Number Portability

The transformation of the telecommunication industry from monopolistic to competitive providers has introduced the concept of number portability, or placing ownership of a subscriber telephone number with the subscriber instead of with the communications

carrier.

INTRODUCTION:Number portability is a circuit-switch telecommunications network feature thatenables end users to retain their telephone numbers when changing service providers,service types, and/or locations. When fully implemented nationwide by both wirelineand wireless providers, portability will remove one of the most significant deterrentsto changing service, providing unprecedented convenience for consumers, andencouraging unrestrained competition in the telecommunications industry.

Types of Number Portability:

The government has defined and mandated three basic types of number portability:Service provider portability (commonly referred to as Local Number Portability), location portability, and service portability. The three types may be combined to form variations on number portability services.

Service provider portability is defined as “theability of end users to retain the same telephonenumbers as they change from one serviceprovider to another.”

Location portability is defined as “the abilityof users of telecommunications services toretain existing telecommunications numberswithout impairment of quality, reliability, orconvenience when moving from one physical

location to another.”

Service portability is defined as “the ability ofusers of telecommunications services to retainexisting telecommunications numbers without impairment of quality, reliability, or onveniencewhen switching from one telecommunicationsservice to another service provided by the same

telecommunications service provider.”

Global number portability initiatives:Number portability is rapidly sweeping across many countries.History: The first implementation of MNP starts in late 1990s with Singapore implementing the MNP (limited) functionality in 1997 followed by Hong Kong in 1999, Spain in 2000, Australia in 2001 and list continues to grow.

There are two basic implementation of MNP. a) Indirect Routing or decentralized or bilateral architecture: This model works bilaterally between the donor and recipient service providers who are responsible for informing all others of the change. It would suit to markets with less number of service providers. Each provider will have a dedicated setup and comprehensive database of ported out and ported in subscribers. As the number of service providers increases, the bilateral approach becomes a great burden to all service providers involved in terms of time, cost and resources.

b). Direct Routing or centralized architecture: In direct routing, the concept of CDB

comes into picture. This central database orCentral clearing house will handle all activities

related to porting of subscribers betweenservice providers. This model is suited for markets with several service providers and thismodel is currently used almost in all MNP implementations. Two options are availablewith this model with all the service providers updating the ported number database insynchronization with the CDB and the other is to query the CDB for all call interrogationto get proper routing procedure. After obtaining the rules, rest of the call is handlednormally.

Thus the complexity and risk is reduced to a minimum with the little increase in work for the service providers to make an additional check. This model is highly recommended for MNP implementation.

Basic glossary and terms used in MNP: Ported out – If a subscriber moves to new service provider, for the old service provider, he is a “ported out” subscriber. Ported in - If a subscriber moves to new service provider, for the new service provider, he is a “ported in” subscriber.Donor – The service provider left by the subscriber is termed as “donor”Recipient – The service provider joined by the subscriber is termed as “recipient”CDB – Central DatabaseACQ – All Call Query

Technical challenges:

The introduction of number portability creates two discrete problems for network operators. First, regulatory bodies in different countries or regions are taking different approaches for implementing number portability. Therefore, multi-national carriers will need different functionality in different countries in order to comply with a number portability mandate. Second, merging carriers are often left with hybrid networks and multiple switching technologies. Implementation of number portability solutions in one network may

not necessarily be the same in another network.Therefore, carriers require a highly flexiblenumber portability solution that can supportany regulatory requirements and can supportmultiple network technologies simultaneously

MNP in INDIA:

In India, this service was expected to be operational by January 2010. The DoT(Department of Telecom) and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued license to two global companies to implement thefeature in two zones. Telecordia, the world’s leading provider of MNP services hassolutions deployed across none countries including the US, Canada, Egypt, Greece andSouth Africa has been issued with license for implementing MNP in north and west zonein India. Syniverse technologies, also a major player in voice and data solutions has beenissued with license for south and east zones. The license issued in February 2009 quotesthe companies to start service for metro cities by six months and other regions withintwelve months. They will provide a “central clearing house” model for MNP in India.

Prepared by- Gadre Nayan A Dabade Bhushan D B.E E&Tc.