Number Portability allows consumers and businesses to keep their existing telephone numbers when they switch operators. It, literally, means that numbers are portable from operator to operator - whether that operator is a mobile, wireline, or VoIP service provider.
Number Portability benefits everyone.
It gives subscribers the freedom to choose operators based on criteria like services, price, and customer service. Their freedom of movement is not influenced by the inconveniences and costs that come with changing numbers.
It also makes it easier for operators to compete for customers, precisely because it eliminates a major barrier to churn - that is, reluctance to change numbers. Although this increased risk of churn is a concern among some operators, number portability has been a huge success around the world, because it helps to level the playing field, giving all operators more opportunities to grow their subscriber bases and revenues.
History of Mobile Number Portability
Though it was introduced as a tool to promote competition in the heavily monopolized wireline telecommunications industry, number portability became popular with the advent of mobile telephones, since in most countries different mobile operators are provided with different area codes and, without portability, changing one's operator would require changing one's number. Some operators, especially incumbent operators with large existing subscriber bases, have argued against portability on the grounds that providing this service incurs considerable overhead, while others argue that it prevents vendor lock-in and allows them to compete fairly on price and service. Due to this conflict of interest, number portability is usually mandated for all operators by telecommunications regulatory authorities. Singapore mobile subscribers were one of the first in the world to enjoy mobile number portability through this Call-Forwarding solution when it was launched there in 1997. Hong Kong, the UK, and Holland followed in 1999 and now over 54 countries around the world have implemented mobile number portability.
