Telcos blamed combined non-technical and technical issues for the "birth pains" of implementing Mobile Number Portability (MNP).
However, Telecommunications Connectivity Inc. (TCI), a joint venture of DITO Telecommunity, Globe Telecom Inc. and Smart Communications Inc., assured the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on Nov. 12, 2021 that it is addressing MNP's “roadblocks”.
Port out rejections, unique subscriber code (USC) generation, enabling portability of Virtual Number Operators (VNOs) and airtime loading are among the technical issues TCI grappled with and resolved within the first two weeks of the MNP launch on September 30, 2021, according to Melanie A. Manuel, TCI General Manager.
TCI has expected "some hiccups" in implementing MNP due to differences in the underlying network architecture and design of the network infrastructure of the mobile service providers (MSPs).
But now, "New issues that have cropped up after the launch are nearing resolution as well," according to Manuel.
To the credit of the MSPs, the project teams from DITO, Globe and Smart have collaborated to resolve the issues in the MNP process she pointed out.
The MSPs are also drawing up a service level agreement (SLA) to streamline the response time governing each critical leg of the MNP process.
The SLA should improve customer experience and potentially address MNP hesitancy.
As for market acceptance, "We believe in the paramount objective of giving mobile customers the freedom to choose their providers," Manuel pointed out.
"The MNP supports this objective, so we are leaving it to the customers to determine if they want to change providers or not," she added.
TCI will continue to work with the MSPs and collaborate with the regulatory bodies to ensure that the true intent of the MNP law is fully implemented and supported, according to the GM.