The introduction of Full Mobile Number Portability will help facilitate the entry of new and non-traditional telecoms service providers and catalyse the development of innovative capabilities and services in today's converged voice and data space.
Full Mobile Number Portability, which will take effect from 13 June 2008, is a solution that allows consumers to keep one mobile number for life, even when they switch operators. It works via a central database system in a multi-operator environment, in which all ported mobile subscribers' numbers and routing information are kept.
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Mr Leong: Full Mobile Number Portability allows consumers to keep one mobile number for life, even when they switch operators.
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With a central database of mobile phone numbers, value-added services will become operator neutral, explained Mr Leong Keng Thai, Deputy Chief Executive and Director-General (Telecoms), Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. Non-traditional telecoms providers of a wide spectrum of services ranging from wireless broadband access and Voice over IP to football scores and ringtone downloads will have the option of working directly with the database operator to reach out to the 5.8 million mobile lines in Singapore.
Set up at a cost of S$33 million, with S$5 million funding from IDA for the building of the database, the Full Mobile Number Portability solution will replace the current solution where a mobile subscriber holds two numbers, so that calls to the old number are forwarded to the new one.
The call-forwarding solution was introduced in 1997, making Singapore mobile subscribers amongst the first in the world to enjoy mobile number portability. Going forward, however, advances in technology have made it possible for a Full Mobile Number Portability solution.
When a call, short message service (SMS) or multimedia message service (MMS) is made to a ported mobile subscriber under the Full Mobile Number Portability solution, the caller's mobile operator will check against the central database information and route the call, SMS or MMS directly to the subscriber's new operator.
This will allow a mobile subscriber who has switched operator to retain full use of his mobile number, which will continue to appear on his contact's Caller-ID when he makes a call or sends an SMS or MMS. The subscriber can also continue receiving MMSes on his number from his previous mobile operator. Prepaid mobile customers, too, can enjoy the same benefits of retaining their numbers when they switch mobile operator.
"Full Mobile Number Portability is expected to bring about a sea-change in Singapore's mobile market," said Mr Leong. "Consumers will be empowered with greater flexibility to choose from the offerings from mobile operators. This in turn intensifies competition and pushes the operators to work harder to attract and retain their customers."
Mr Leong believes there will be more competitive pricing or better value-for-money mobile service deals, which will benefit even those who choose to remain with their current mobile operator.
"We can expect even more exciting times ahead for our mobile market with Full Mobile Number Portability, and consumers will be the biggest winners," he said.
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Number portability timeline
In the run up to Full Mobile Number Portability, the 130,000 mobile subscribers who have ported their numbers under the current call-forwarding solution will be involved in the following migration exercise:
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From 22 April 2008, subscribers under the call-forwarding solution will be contacted by their current mobile operators, who will advise them on the migration procedures.
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By 14 May 2008, subscribers will have to decide which number to keep - either the old number from the previous mobile operator, or the new number issued by the current mobile operator, otherwise the new number will be assigned to them by default.
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Subscribers may want to inform their contacts about their choice of number ahead of 13 June 2008, to continue to be reachable.
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