One of the most frequent definitions that prevails in the telecom circles for number portability is: "Number portability is a circuit-switch telecommunications network feature that enables end users to retain their telephone numbers when changing service providers, service types, and or locations."

Why wireless number portability (WNP)? When fully implemented nationwide by both wireline and wireless providers, portability will remove one of the most significant deterrents to changing service, providing unprecedented convenience for consumers and encouraging unrestrained competition in the telecommunications industry. In short, this is the best method to increase the efficiency of the service provider by increasing the competition, thereby ensuring better services in all respects.

From the subscribers’ perspective, this is a deceptively simple and very welcome change, because they can change wireless service providers without worrying about notifying friends, family and business contacts that their wireless number is changing. In addition, being able to ‘port’ a number from one provider to another eliminates the hassle and expenses of changing business cards, stationery, invoices and other materials for businesses.

From the wireless carrier’s perspective the change is anything, but simple. Virtually all of wireless carriers’ systems are affected. Especially any system that relies on mobile identity numbers (MINs) or mobile directory numbers (MDNs) will be affected. Examples of critical systems and processes that would be affected are: billing, customer service, order activation, call delivery, roamer registration and support, short messages service center, directory assistance, caller ID, calling name presentation, switches, maintenance and CSC systems, home location registers (HLRs), and visiting location registers (VLRs).

The Inhibitors
Huge Costs: One of the most common barriers in WNP implementation, within any country, has been the implementation cost. Service Providers have been constantly bargaining for time, based on the cost factor, from their respective governments. Referring to the recent example of the US, where each of the large carriers would need to spend $50–60 million to institute the service and an equivalent sum to maintain it. The FCC on this plea gave wireless carriers in the US another year, i.e., till November 2003, for resolving implementation issues. The experience of developed countries exhibits that local number portability for fixed wireline was introduced within two to three years of introduction of competition to incumbent state telcos. The cost estimate for the implementation of WNP in developed nations like the US can be very helpful for the other countries, who wish to think on the lines of number portability. To add on increased marketing costs are to be realized as the carriers look to lock up their current base before number portability is implemented, and then aggressively pursue the customers of other carriers thereafter.

Customer Retention/Increased Competition: Every subscriber in a race to retain its customer would like to offer its customers best services so as to save them from porting. It’s like a blessing in disguise for the customers, as they would get better service irrespective of the carrier, albeit with the same number.

Infrastructure Upgrade: To support WNP, a company has to upgrade both its hardware and software capabilities, which will amount to some cost. Softwares need to be upgraded to provide proper routing of calls. The carriers need to upgrade their networks to handle portability requests. The provider, which has its portability compatible would be expected to attract maximum customers and will emerge the winner.

Cost Recovery and Bill Reconciliation/Query Processing: When a customer plans to shift, the old service provider (OSP) has to perform a query to identify if there are any billing amounts pending, which they need to recover before the subscriber moves to the new service provider (NSP).

Implementing NP
Let us look at some of the basic terminologies used in any porting process:

NSP: It is the recipient carrier i.e., the new service provider to which the subscriber wishes to subscribe to.

OSP: And the donor carrier is the old service provider, which the subscriber wishes to leave.

NPAC: Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC), the authority responsible for maintaining NP solutions in different regions.

Both the OSP and NSP carriers will have access to their own wireless network, order entry and point of sale terminals. Further, the two competing carriers’ WNP architectures will be connected at two points:

• Intercarrier communications process (ICP)
• Number portability administration center (NPAC).

Let us look at the steps of the porting process.

• When the NSP wins the business of one of the subscribers of any other service provider, it enters porting information into its operations support system (OSS), at the point of sale (POS like retail store, affiliate retailer, Web, etc.)

• Next, a wireless port request (WPR) is sent from the NSP to the OSP via the inter-carrier communications process (ICP).

• A wireless port request response (WPRR) is returned from the OSP to the NSP via the ICP. The OSP can use the WPRR to delay the port, request further information from the NSP, or confirm the port request’s details. Note that the NSP should not port the number if it does not receive a wireless port response from the OSP. Also note, that the OSP doesn’t ‘approve’ the port. They have no right to deny the port if it is properly formatted and contains the right data.

• They can merely tell the NSP that something is wrong with the request.

• The NSP’s OSS provisioning system feeds the porting information to a LSOA system. Ideally, the ICC process and LSOA process should be integrated with the POS system so data does not have to be re-keyed at various stages in the porting process. This will save money and increase accuracy.

• The NSP’s LSOA forwards a porting Subscription Create Request to the NPAC, specifying the date and time when porting should occur.

• The NPAC sends a notification of the porting request to the OSP’s LSOA. This starts a two-hour timer at the NPAC. The OSP has one hour to respond. Then the NSP has another hour to activate the subscription request.

• The OSP’s LSOA informs its OSS of the porting request, including the date/time to stop billing the number.

• The OSP’s LSOA notifies the NPAC that it has received the porting request and confirms the date and time of the change.

• The NPAC notifies the NSP that the OSP has acknowledged the request and confirmed the date and time and other arrangements. If the OSP does not respond, the NPAC assumes the OSP is agreeing to the porting request.

• The NSP sends a porting activation request to the NPAC.

• The NPAC’s LSOA then sends the information to its SMS, which broadcasts it to all of the LSMSs operating in the region so the number and the LRN of the NSP is available the next time the number is dialed. The number is now ported!

Indian Telecom Scenario
India has one of the fastest growing telecommunication systems in the world with a huge system size in terms of total connections. The whole telecommunication system has grown largely in last five years and is expected to grow further at a record combined annual growth rate of 13.42 percent in the next five years. This growth is despite the fact that there is an overall slowdown in the world telecom market.

During the next five years, the tele-density (telephone per 100 population) in India is expected to cross 10 percent with the ongoing aggressive push of communication facilities by both private and incumbent operators. The overall Indian telecom industry is expected to touch $24 billion by 2006. Several countries have just one single technology, but our Indian telecom system currently offers multiple technologies, i.e., GSM and CDMA. There are technologies pouring like software radio, which permits a handset to switch across GSM, CDMA but till date it is not a very mature stuff.

The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) until 1994 was the only telecom provider in the country. With the deregulation of this sector, various private players have come in and improved not only the services but also cut down on costs. Telecom bandwidth issues have also been addressed. Many private ISPs have come in this sector and telecom costs have dropped by 85 percent in three years. Reliance Infocomm’s entry to Indian telecom map is expected to increase the country’s tele-density from 4 percent to 4.5-7 percent within a year of its launch. The $5.2 billion telecom project is based on the idea of making services affordable and accessible to all.

WNP in India: TRAI’s Role
Experiences from various countries confirm the fact that local number portability for fixed wireline should be introduced first. Within a span of next two to three years WNP should be implemented in different regions by different telecom companies. Currently, we do not have number portability for fixed line subscribers in India.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) needs to give serious thought to it, if it has to think largely in the customer interest. If we study minutely, BSNL and MTNL offer location portability through universal number service but due to heavy tarrifs associated with it, normal customers benefit from it. The growth in the Indian telecom market suggests that to ensure a healthy competition number portability regulations are a must for maximum customer benefit. In short, TRAI needs to take up such activities largely in the customer interest.

One of the very crucial factors for the Indian scenario is that we do not have a single agency, like NPAC, to administer complete phone numbers centrally, which might be a major issue for WNP implementation in India. A critical lesson about the time taken should be learnt from the US implementation of WNP—it took them seven years to have WNP into action. We in India should move slowly and plan well and commence with bringing landline portability first.

Praveen Kankariya, president and CEO, Impetus Technologies