Today, fixed and mobile number portability has been launched in Romania. ”Whoever wishes to keep his/her telephone number, but, nevertheless, switch telephony providers, can now go to chosen operator and submit a porting request. Within 10 days, his/her number will be operational in the new network”, Mr. Liviu Nistoran, the ANC President, declared during the international conference entitled ”Regulating Electronic Communications – Putting the End User First”. The ANC President a estimated that, in the first two years of number portability, approximately 20-25% of the mobile telephony numbers in Romania will be ported.
Number portability is a service designed for the telephony users who intend to keep their telephone number while changing the service provider. One can port fixed and mobile telephony numbers, Premium Rate numbers, as well as numbers in the 0800 or 0900 ranges. Porting is possible only within the same category of numbers (fixed-fixed, mobile-mobile).
The ANC President highlighted the main three benefits of number portability: freedom for the users, incentives for competition and lower tariffs. Number portability reduces the users’ reluctance to switching telephony providers and ensures greater freedom of choice for them, triggering the launch of better services and of more advantageous offers, and provides for narrowing the gap between ”on-net” and ”off-net” tariffs, in the long run.
On this occasion, ANC launched the website www.portabilitate.ro, where the users can find information on number portability and useful advice on the porting procedure, a search engine enabling them to see whether a telephone number has been ported and – if so – the network to which it has been ported.
Representatives of the European Commission, of other European NRAs and of the consumer groups attended this event.
ANC established the central database required in view of implementing this service, with PHARE support, by means of the project “Support to the National Regulatory Authority for Communications (ANRC) for the implementation of a Central Database System for Number Portability”, a supply project financed by the EU through Phare 2005 programme – “Facilities for special actions”.
Further details on this conference are available on the Authority’s website.