Your mobile number is yours for life. Mobile number portability is here!

May forever pala!

Finally, after many, many years, mobile number portability is finally a reality. Beginning September 30, mobile phone users can now keep the same mobile number even if they switch telco providers. This is the result of Republic Act No. 11202 or the Mobile Number Portability (MPN) Act that was passed in 2018.

Actually, consumer advocates have long been asking for mobile number portability. Technically, it was really possible, with some reprogramming but I think the greater challenge was really in the details – the transition from one telco provider to another or from postpaid to prepaid, and vice versa, how to handle inter-telco charges, and how this move would affect the way they maintained their databases.

Telecommunications Connectivity Incorporated (TCI), a consortium consisting of the three current telco providers (Globe, Smart, and DITO), was created to ensure proper implementation of the law.

Here are some of the features of MNP:

• Switch from postpaid to prepaid, and vice versa through internal porting
• Switch from one telco to another through external porting
• Porting is free of charge
• The porting process takes up to 48 hours. Subscriber should expect about 4 hours of signal/service loss.
• Once a switch is completed, the subscriber has to wait at least 60 days before making another transfer request.

How does one qualify for MNP?

There are some conditions under which you can qualify for MNP. The mobile number must –

1. Be active, have no unpaid account charges, and not operator-locked.
2. Not be part of any product or service bundle.
3. Not be the primary or principal holder of multiple accounts.
4. Have no pending transfer of mobile number ownership request.
5. Have no MNP requests within the last 60 days.
6. Not be associated with any fraudulent activity.
7. Have no prohibitions set by the law, by a court order, or by the National Telecommunications Commission.

Steps in switching

According to TCI, these are the general steps in order to switch while keeping your mobile number. Note that there may be a few differences in specific steps, depending on whether you are a postpaid or prepaid subscriber.

1. Request a Unique Subscriber Code (USC) from your current network provider – Bring a government-issued ID and proof of mobile number ownership to get the USC.
2. Present your USC and mobile number portability application to your new network and wait for your new SIM.
3. You will receive a notification once your MNP application and new account activation processes are done.

People calling a number that has been ported will hear a beep before the call is connected.

TCI is cautioning switching subscribers that there may be inconveniences as the service starts to roll out but that these are just birthing pains as the telco partners are expected to work hard to make transitions as seamless as possible.