NTC confirms 5 mobile operators to provide number portability service

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NTC confirms 5 mobile operators to provide number portability service
- NNT 2010-11-01

BANGKOK, 1 November 2010 (NNT) -- The National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) has confirmed that 5 mobile phone operators will provide a number portability service for their customers. The service will allow consumers to switch from one service provider to another without having to change the numbers.

Five mobile phone companies, including AIS, DTAC, True Move, CAT, and TOT, will begin offering the service on December 15th. The system has been successfully tested, with users switching between service providers using the same numbers during the trial period.

However, the NTC is set to conduct a final test on the 5 service providers before the service begins. Pre-paid users, which account for 80% of the total number of mobile phone users in Thailand, are required register their numbers first by bringing in a copy of their identification card and a house registration certificate to their current provider. Once the service is open in December, they will be able to change their service providers as often as they please, while retaining the same numbers.

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Thai mobile phone portability Dec 15 
Bangkok Post: 11 Nov 2010
Number portability official from Dec 15

Mobile phone users in Thailand will be able to keep their old numbers when they change operators starting from Dec 15, when mobile number portability (MNP) officially takes effect.

However, customers will not be able to transfer unused call value and validity from one operator to the other. The service will be available for mobile numbers only and not landlines.

Customers will be charged 99 baht to transfer their old numbers to new operators and the switch should be completed within three working days. Customers must stay with the new operator for at least three months before making another change.

Testing of the operators' clearing house system so far had found no major technical problems, said Premon Pinskul, chairman of Clearing House for Number Portability Co.

The company was jointly established by a consortium of five private and state telecom firms _ AIS, DTAC, True Move, TOT and CAT Telecom.

"MNP is expected to open up a new era for the local mobile market," said Mr Premon, who is also the deputy chief financial officer of DTAC.

"Perfect price competition would be a necessary condition to attract customers, the high-spending postpaid and corporate users in particular."

Mobile leader AIS, however, believes that MNP will not have a noticeable impact on the market since tariff plans and service charges do not differ much from one operator to the next.

"Key factors of network quality, customer service and other privileges are essential for customers to consider staying with a network," said Somchai Lertsutiwong, AIS's executive vice-president for marketing.

Mr Somchai said many surveys showed that postpaid and corporate users would show a high tendency to switch to AIS once the MNP option became available.

AIS and DTAC, however, rebutted claims that mobile operators would keep more than 10 billion baht left on prepaid SIM cards after customers stop using their services.

Puea Thai Party MP Suriya Promdee, deputy chairman of the House committee on telecommunications, said it was illegal for the companies to consider the unused money as income.

He said the operators had already paid VAT on the value of each refill card whether they were sold or not.

The companies also have to pay a monthly fee for keeping unused numbers to the National Telecommunications Commission.

Mr Somchai said prepaid users had the right to transfer unused money on their SIM cards to others. If they did not do so, operators should also have the right under their contracts to take the sums back.

Prasert Apipunya, vice-secretary of the NTC, said the clearing house might be able to launch MNP on Dec 5, 10 days ahead of the initial commitment, now that the testing was 80% complete.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/205574/number-portability-official-from-dec-15