Consumers can currently wait for up to five days for number
porting under Ofcom rules. A target for reducing that period to two
days by 1st April 2008 had been set previously. Today, the
communications regulator said that two-hour transfers must now be
implemented by 1st September 2009.
The rules are intended to make it quicker and easier for
consumers to keep their number, thereby strengthening competition
and consumer convenience, according to an Ofcom statement. In
addition, industry will be obliged to ensure that the new porting
process includes certain levels of protection for consumers.
Ofcom is also requiring industry to co-operate to create a
common database to handle calls and to pave the way for more
efficient call routing. The database will also ensure that
consumers are not affected by problems with their old network,
after they have ported their number.
The new database will make it possible to route calls to ported
numbers directly to the new provider’s network without the need for
the call to travel over the previous network. The database will
remove dependency on the previous network.
“Consumers deserve a quick and easy process for switching while
retaining their number," said Ofcom Chief Executive Ed Richards.
"These measures will promote competition in the UK mobile market
and act directly in the consumers’ interest. Our new rules set
tough but achievable deadlines to put new systems in place and I
look to the industry to implement them effectively”.
