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Source:
www.ida.gov.sg
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Singapore To Enjoy Full Mobile Number Portability
From 13 June |
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Come 13 June, Singapore’s mobile subscribers
will enjoy Full Mobile Number Portability[1], and with this, greater
benefits in terms of flexibility and choice of subscription plans as
competition among mobile operators is expected to intensify. Currently,
Singapore’s mobile subscription stands at more than 5.8 million. |
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The Full Mobile Number Portability
solution will replace the current solution where a mobile
subscriber holds two numbers, so that calls to his old number
are Call-Forwarded to a new one. Singapore mobile subscribers
were one of the first in the world to enjoy mobile number
portability through this Call-Forwarding solution when it was
launched here in 1997[2]. |
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When implemented from 13 June, Full Mobile
Number Portability will allow anyone who wishes to keep their current
number when they switch mobile operator, to do so by the next working
day. This spares them the hassle of updating their family, friends, and
business contacts about a new number. |
Today, with advances in technology, Full
Mobile Number Portability allows a mobile subscriber who has switched
operator to:
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Retain full use of his mobile number,
which will continue to appear on his contact’s Caller-ID when he
makes a call or uses the Short Message Service (SMS)/Multi-Media
Message Service (MMS)
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Continue receiving MMSes on his number
from his previous mobile operator
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Pre-paid mobile subscribers can now also
enjoy the same benefits of retaining their numbers when they switch
mobile operator. |
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IDA Deputy Chief Executive and
Director-General (Telecoms) Leong Keng Thai said: “Full Mobile Number
Portability is expected to bring about a sea-change in Singapore’s
mobile market. Consumers will be empowered with greater flexibility to
choose from the offerings from mobile operators. This in turn
intensifies competition and pushes the operators to work harder to
attract and retain their customers. As we can expect to see more
competitive pricing or better value-for-money mobile service deals, even
those who choose to remain with their current mobile operator should
benefit. We can expect even more exciting times ahead for our mobile
market with Full Mobile Number Portability, and consumers will be the
biggest winners.” |
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Full Mobile Number Portability is also
expected to open the doors to new business opportunities for
non-traditional telecommunication service providers like wireless
broadband providers and Voice-Over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers.
Its centralised database infrastructure will be well-placed to
facilitate the entry of new players and evolution of new capabilities
and services in today’s converged voice and data space. |
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Call-Forwarding Ported Mobile Subscribers
to Migrate to Full Mobile Number Portability From 22 April 2008 |
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There are about 130,000 mobile subscribers
who have ported their numbers under the current Call-Forwarding
solution. As the new Full Mobile Number Portability will kick-in from 13
June, this group of subscribers will be involved in a migration
exercise, which will start from 22 April 2008. |
As part of the migration exercise, from 22
April 2008, these subscribers will be contacted by their current mobile
operators, who will advise them on the migration procedures. Mainly,
these subscribers will need to:
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Decide by 14 May 2008 which number to
keep - either the old number from the previous mobile operator (N1)
or the new number issued by the current mobile operator (N2),
otherwise N2 will be assigned to them by default.
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If relevant, consider informing their
contacts about their choice of number ahead of 13 June 2008, to
continue to be reachable.
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(Please also refer to Annex
A: “Migration Exercise Timeline”.) |
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The migration of mobile subscribers on the
current number portability solution to Full Mobile Number Portability
will be completed by 13 June 2008, when the new solution is available
for all consumers to use. |
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IDA has been working closely with the
industry to bring Full Mobile Number Portability to the market, and will
continue to monitor the final steps towards its launch. Consumers can
also refer to the Frequently-Asked-Questions
on Full Mobile Number Portability on IDA (www.ida.gov.sg)
and the respective operators’ websites, to find out more about this new
solution and its benefits. |
ISSUED BY CORPORATE & MARKETING
COMMUNICATION DIVISION
INFOCOMM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE |
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[1] Full Mobile
Number Portability is a solution that allows consumers to keep one
mobile number for life, even when they switch operators. It works via a
central database system in a multi-operator environment, in which all
ported mobile subscribers’ numbers and routing information are kept.
When a call/SMS/MMS is made to a ported mobile subscriber under the
solution, the caller’s mobile operator will check against the central
database information and route the call/SMS/MMS directly to the ported
subscriber’s new operator. |
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A Brief History
of Number Portability in Singapore: |
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April
1997: |
Singapore was one of the
first in the world to introduce Mobile Number Portability, via a
Call Forwarding solution. |
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April 2000:
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Fixed-Number Portability introduced,
along with full liberalisation of Singapore's telecoms market. |
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June 2003:
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IDA issued direction to the mobile
operators to cease recurring monthly porting fees and to provide SMS
portability. |
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August
2006: |
IDA issued decision to enhance to a
Full Mobile Number Portability solution. With it, a subscriber who
has switched operators need not update his contacts as they will
still see his existing number when he calls or SMSes. |
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November
2006: |
IDA issued a Request-For-Proposal
(RFP) for a Centralised Database Administrator to implement Full
Mobile Number Portability. |
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June 2007:
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IDA appointed Syniverse Technologies
as the Centralised Database Administrator. |
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January 2008: |
IDA issued direction to operators to
cease recurring monthly porting fees for fixed line telephony. |
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April 2008: |
Singapore begins the final leg
towards Full Mobile Number Portability, with operators moving mobile
subscribers under the current Call-Forwarding solution over to the
Full Mobile Number Portability solution. |
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13 June 2008: |
Singapore to have Full Mobile Number
Portability solution to benefit all consumers. |
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Source:
www.ida.gov.sg News Release 16
Apr 2008 |
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FrontPage Edition: Wed 16 April 2008
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