Mobile Number Portability, or MNP as we all know it, allows a mobile phone user to switch to a new operator (recipient) and avail its services while still retaining his old-operator (donor)  number.

Number portability is always a state/regulatory-body implementation which keeps accord among the network operators participating in it.

In Pakistan, all the five GSM, AMPS and landline network operators participate in the MNP, which is as said, Government harmonized. In Pakistan, MNP system is managed by Telcordia Technologies (a company emerging from the famous Bell Systems Ltd.)

Yes, the word ‘System’ here indicates the existence of a physical entity or rather a software solution linking several vital bodies. Leaving aside all the technical terms and jargons; in most simple manner, the link architecture for a MNP-Server (as we will call it) can be drawn as:

The server is accessible to all networks and its main functions are to maintain a database record of the ported numbers, and to assist the networks in routing the incoming traffic (voice and text). This is basically done by maintaining a memory basket, technically called ‘Central DataBase (CDB)’ of the ported numbers.

Whenever a number is ported from a network to another, a set of associated information is stored in the CDB, which is then accessible to all the other networks as well.

To understand how MNP works, one must know what ‘Related Information’ is transferred to the CDB when a number is ported. Not going into deep details; there are a couple of terms that must be known i.e.

IMSI MSISDN

ICC-ID

SIM

A SIM, as most of us know, stands for ‘Subscriber Identity Module’. Generally, it is reflected of as a card that holds the subscriber’s mobile number. Actually it doesn’t. SIM basically holds the IMSI (International mobile subscriber identity). An IMSI is a 14-digit number that uniquely indicates presence of a SIM card.

No two SIMs in the world would have the same IMSI. Your mobile number, or MSISDN (Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network) as it is technically known is mapped against the IMSI and the map is known by the SIM issuing network operator. The mobile numbers we use (e.g. 0300-1234567) are

illusive by nature; a cell phone uses the IMSI to communicate with its parent network.

ICC-ID (Integrated circuit card ID) is a 19 digit number that signifies the physical existence of a SIM card and acts more like a product serial number. It is hard-written and dies with the SIM. The ICC is just like the IMEI code of a mobile instrument and is printed on back of the SIM as well.

To clear things up a bit, try to understand the scenario using an analogy:

The ICC-ID is your NIC number. Unique for everyone. Never to be used again for anybody else.

IMSI is your university’s ID number/roll number.

And the MSISDN (the phone number) is your name.

You use your name [MSISDN or the phone number] in your everyday communication. Which by itself cant be unique, but combining it with your sir-name and address will make it distinctive. Like your mobile number combined with network code and country code is unique across the world.

However your university (a network you are a part of) still uses your roll number in all the official settlements (which may or may not be accompanied with your name). Why not the name itself? You can figure it out yourself. Other universities (other networks) on the other hand will still use your name + sir-name + address for referring you, not your roll number.

I shall explain it by the example of losing your SIM. If you ever had lost one, you are issued a new SIM with your old number. The operating company simply de-maps your MSISDN off your lost SIM’s IMSI and maps it against a new IMSI. So you shall have a new SIM, but old number. Similar is the case with a university re-admission case. If a student previously expelled is granted a new admission, he is allocated a new roll number, but the name still remains the same.

Back to the MNP . . .

Now, one might predict that MNP is as simple as it looks. De-mapping the IMSI off the donor operator’s IMSI and mapping it against the recipient’s. But the problem is that the IMSI and MSISDN are network dependent and cant be cross mapped.

Solution ?

The recipient operator selects an unregistered number out of its lot and dedicates it for the incoming port. Like, if a number 0313-5559555 is to be ported out, the recipient might select (if available) a similar looking number with its own network code. For instance: 0331-5559555. This number co-relation information (+923135559555 -> +923315559555) along with the new IMSI and ICC-ID is stored in the CDB unit of the MNP-Server.

The database, as earlier stated is then accessible to all the networks so the incoming traffic can be routed to the new number.

After the nation-wide implementation of MNP, every network first queries the MNP-Server before establishing a call so that it can know to what number and network the call must be routed. MNP in short, establishes a user-transparent call divert service, but without using the donor operator’s resources.

Consider the case of  number ported from operator [A] to operator [D] as explained in figure-2. Now if a user of operator [B] will call that ported number, the call shall be routed as shown in the figure below.

Mobile operator [B] will first query the MNP server about the status of the number to be dialed. Since the number is ported, the server shall reply with a divert number. The call will therefore be routed to the recipient network, the Operator [D].

In case a called number is not ported, the MNP server shall not respond an affirmative nod, and normal call routing shall take place.

The constitution of the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) supervisory board and election of its Chairman is a landmark in the history of development of cellular mobile phone industry in Pakistan.  Under the chairmanship of Mr. Tore, the Board would work professionally and reach to an acceptable solution.  It would help the implementation of MNP according to the schedule. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) would facilitate the

Board in its pursuit to make it convenient to implement the MNP in the given period?; this was said by Chairman PTA, Maj Gen Ã?® Shahzada Alam Malik, while addressing the participants of the second MNP meeting.  

Mobile Number Portability or MNP" is an ability to retain an existing mobile

Subscriber number along with Operator code while shifting connectivity

from one Operator to another Operator; in general it is a circuit-switch

network service provided by the Cellular or Fixed Line Operators to the

consumers with the ability to change service providers, locations, or service

types without changing their telephone numbers.

 

Pakistan Telecommunications (Re-organization) Act, 1996 provides that

the PTA ?shall promote and protect the interests of users of

telecommunication services in Pakistan;  promote the availability of a wide

range of high quality, efficient, cost effective and competitive

telecommunication services throughout Pakistan; (and) promote rapid

modernization of telecommunication systems and telecommunication

services.? These provisions mandate the competition in all aspects of the

telecommunications industry.

 

To realize this long awaited consumer commitment the federal government

declared the first ever Mobile Cellular Policy (January 28, 2004) of

Pakistan, which provided that ?A major drawback to switching mobile

operators is that, at present, customers need to change their mobile

telephone numbers. In order to establish market conditions that provide

maximum choice, consumers should be able to switch operators in order to

take advantage of attractive service offerings, lower prices or improved

quality???????. To provide flexibility to consumers, all mobile licensees

shall implement number portability, according to the PTA?s requirements

and guidelines.?

 

There have been around than 30 implementations of MNP around the

world, and at least 20 more are on the agenda within the next couple of

years. PTA sees MNP as an effective and necessary way to maximize

competition and consumer choice of telecom services. It has taken a

minimalist approach to directly regulate the MNP and has encouraged

operators to agree on as many issues as possible regarding the practical

implementation of it. PTA recently initiated consultation on cellular number

portability and devising regulations for it, deferring a decision on

geographic portability and services portability implementation apart from

fixed-line (Fixed-line Local Loop and Wireless Local Loop Telecom

Services) number portability. Apart from other aspects emerging from the

Policy etc. this may also be because at the moment it is only in the license

of CMTO?s that they ?shall implement Mobile Number Portability within 2

years from the Effective Date according to the regulations / guidelines

issued by the Authority from time to time. The Authority shall prepare the

Regulations in consultation with Cellular Mobile Operators.?

 

All the six cellular mobile operators have formed a Supervisory Board or a

Numbering Council chaired by the Telenor CEO Mr. Tore Johnsen and a

representative from PTA to implement Mobile Number Portability (MNP) by

2006 with the help of PTA, which is an independent legal entity where all

CMTOs shall collectively own, fund and supervise the centralized database

operation to be known as the Central Database Administration (CDBA),

Which bears the full financial accountability for the creation and ongoing

operation of the CDBA and ensure that good governance prevails, and

which undertakes full responsibility for the overall governance and

financing of the CDBA on behalf of all Operators and Subscribers.

Implementing MNP is a simple affair. A number of issues have to be

considered, such as:  Technical solutions for number queries and call

routing ; Processes regarding the porting itself; Regulatory aspects

concerning protection of consumer rights Economic aspects concerning

implementation costs, running costs, increased interconnection costs and

other extra costs for routing calls to ported numbers.

The PTA has instructed the Supervisory Board to determine which number

portability method to employ. Several routing methods are being

investigated what is essential is that  all Operators need to negotiate ,

develop and maintain a technically viable methodology in terms of network

codes for authorization for access to the database and Subscriber number

routing information prior to the implementation time schedule of MNP.

 

As a technical solution MNP implementation relied on individual routing and

distributed databases this was because network technology could not

support advanced IN solutions, and centralized databases were costly to

execute. Recent implementations have discovered more routing-efficient

solutions such as centralized databases to ensure higher efficiency for both

porting processes and number queries, the Location Routing Number

(LRN) method has also appeared to be the most efficient method for both

porting processes and number queries and is successfully implemented. 

In the number portability process the administrative procedures and

administrative interfaces between Operators are defined at commercially

agreed upon terms. The numbers that can be ported include, without

exception, all numbers for which a written agreement or reservation exists.

The Subscriber shall reactivate the mobile number at the Donor Operator,

and then activate the porting, with the Recipient Operator providing this is

done within the retention time frame. The Recipient Operator shall inform

all other Operators of the mobile number's, at completion time of a porting,

the new/actual information for routing, charging, single access code and

SPC by ensuring this data is recorded at the CDBA. All Subsequent

portability shall be handled in the same manner as the first time. The

current Operator shall become the Donor Operator and the new Operator

becomes the Recipient Operator. If a Subscriber wants to return to the

previous Operator, the order shall be handled like a standard porting order.

There shall be no difference even if the Recipient Operator was the original

Number Range holder. If, for any reason, the Subscriber wants to end his

Subscriber relationship with his current Operator, the current Operator

handles this as a termination in his administrative and technical systems

and shall reset the status of the number in question to 'not in service' or

'ceased'. At the expiration of the Retention or Quarantine period the

Subscriber Number shall revert to the original Range Holder.  

As mentioned, number portability is the ability of end users to change

service providers, locations, or service types without changing their mobile

numbers and their preface codes. The PTA does require that MNP should

be ?transparent? to consumers ? meaning remote callers should

automatically be connected to ported subscribers, requiring no procedural

or dialing changes to the originating caller. It also supports Central

Database for IT porting, i.e., the database holding all relevant details

regarding all mobile Subscriber number ranges for all CMTOs together with

the history of any porting activity for any particular Subscriber number and

should be available for port inquiries, recording porting request status, and

for providing specific statistical information.

The exchange of telephone data, as well as the maintenance of the

integrity and content of the data, between the database administration and

Operators participating in MNP could be managed effectively. The MNP

order data exchanged between Operators in connection with implementation of

MNP also shall only be used to perform the function of MNP. The issues the

Operators may consider as they ramp up for full porting implementation

include: inter-company testing; telephone directory listings for customers

who opt to switch their services from one operator to an other service

provider and wish to publish directory information; troubleshooting;

interconnection agreements; cost recovery and bill reconciliation, as well as

the Inter-carrier Communications pre-porting process.

 

Conclusion

Approximately 500,000 numbers are porting each month around the world.

One can expect this number to grow in the future as the right to change

operator while keeping the same code with same number without loosing

the contacts is being introduced rapidly in developing countries and more

such activities are taking place around the world.

 

It seems evident that MNP, if adopted in the right way and under the right

market conditions with true spirit, has the effect of furthering competition

and providing cheaper services for mobile customers. Although, the initial

pace of number portability might affect the existing mobile operators

particularly Mobilink and Ufone, in the 11 urban statistical areas, i.e.,

Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi,

Islamabad, Peshawar, Noshera, and Mardan; but the better quality with

variety of services at affordable rates strategy might works to rescue their

existing customer base and might increase it further.Hence, the MNP?s

ability to change market dynamics should not be underestimated in the new

environment.

 

Number portability would provide an opportunity to the consumers to

change the Operator (s), while maintaining the same code and same

number, if service provider is unable to offer its customers variety of more

competitive services, with better quality and at affordable rates, definitely

the targets of an Operator for attracting a huge number of subscribers

would remain unmet and consequent loss of a subscriber base to it.

 

It is envisaged that the following would be adhered to ensure smooth

implementation of MNP for the end-user and both Donor and Recipient

Operators and to ensure a well-functioning of number portability

environment:

 

(a)                a Donor Operator would not prevent a porting from being

completed that has already commenced by using rejection codes;

 

(b)               legally binding agreements between an Operator and a

Subscriber / user would be respected and followed in letter and

spirit;

 

(c)                all operators would maintain Subscriber services as well as

quality of network performance parameters while providing cellular

mobile telecommunication services to its Subscriber;

 

(d)               all Operators apart from other things would compile records

and the information regarding ported Subscribers to/from its

network, which includes: the failure rate of porting process;

average duration of porting process and

 

(e)                additional call setup delay time on average calculated by

calling ported Subscribers;

 

(f)                 all Operators would be capable to provide all

telecommunications services to the ported Subscribers and shall

upgrade their network in a manner to support MNP as per the  

ITU-T recommendations and other standardization bureaus.

Mobile Number Portability (MNP):

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) means the porting of mobile number. In simple language, you can change your present mobile service operator to a new one, but your present mobile number will remain the same. Thus your mobile number will not change in spite of the change of the service provider of your choice.

Implementation of MNP in India

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) had to be launched in India in the end of year 2009. But its implementation was deferred for several times for over two years due to lack of preparations of mobile operators to appoint agency to look-over MNP execution. However, finally this consumer friendly service was launched in India on 25th November, 2010 in the state of Haryana in Rohtak city by the union communication minister Kapil Sibal and chief minister of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Process to change the mobile number

To study about the complete process to change the mobile number with the help of an easy example, please visit the web page at Process to change your mobile operator under MNP

Benefits of Mobile Number Portability (MNP):

• You can shift your old mobile service provider to new better mobile service portability, keeping your mobile number unchanged. Thus, you need not to inform your friends and relatives about any change in your number. This is of great benefit to businessmen and professionals where they may have to suffer losses due to change in mobile number.• The porting transaction charge is very low, just Rs. 19. Thus it is quite affordable.• The formalities involved in MNP are quite nominal. You have to just send a SMS followed by the filling up of customer application form for MNP.• The mobile gets dead for a maximum of 2 hours before porting to a new mobile operator. But this range of 2 hours will be in the time range of 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., thus minimizing the risk of any loss to the subscriber to the bottom most level.• The whole process of switching mobile operators will take of maximum number of seven days only.• A spirit of competition will run in telecom operators to provide quality service to the people at cheapest rates. This will provide huge benefit to the subscribers.• There are approximately 700 million mobile users countrywide with about 10 operators in each circle. Thus MNP is going to prove a great benefit to them.• Service providers are planning to offer some introductory attractive tariff plans to lure the subscribers is that they switch to them. Value added services at high speed may also be offered to the new customers.• New mobile service providers will have to do efforts to establish their feet in the

market. They can shine their self just by offering attractive tariff plans with quality service to their customers.

Negative impacts of MNP :

• Undoubtedly, MNP is going to be proven a big part of mobile revolution in India. But it is also going to bring higher marketing expenses for mobile operators followed by lower profits. • In present time, mobile phone and Sim card are important tools during any criminal investigation. This helps police in investigating the owner of Sim card (who can be criminal). MNP could be a headache to police department because the criminals can misuse the portability duration of 90 days. • In India, 80% of mobile users are prepaid mobile users. A thorny disadvantage of MNP is that you lose all your remaining balance in your prepaid account on porting to new number. • Another aspect of mobile number portability is that it may prove to be insignificant in India as churn rate in India is already very high. Mobile users are very accustomed to switch to other operator and change their mobile number. So subscribers many not bother to go through the formalities of MNP. Use of multi Sim mobile handsets may also contribute in this reason. However, still the chances of this impact are very low.

Zones and vendors for Mobile Number Portability (MNP):

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has declared two Mobile Number Portability vendors across the country and the area of working of these vendors is divided into zones. Thus there are two zones in India.