Number Portability and Telecommunications Liberalization CANTO 2005

Agenda l Introduction to Number Portability l National Number Portability Design Issues l Case Studies l Tactics for a Successful Roll-out

Introduction to Number Portability Goals and Design Basics

Number Portability Goals l Enable customer to keep their phone numbers while switching from one service provider to another l Principle #1 – The customer owns the telephone number l Promote competition through unfettered consumer choice l Principle #2 – Consumers should have minimal inconvenience in porting a number l Encourage investment in local telecommunications infrastructure through level competitive playing field l Principle #3 – Regulations should ensure equal opportunity for network operators l Encourage migration to new technologies with consumer- friendly migration paths l Principle #4 – Number portability mechanics should be available for both inter-operator competition, and for intra-operator service migration

National Roll-out Design Basics l Determine call routing mechanics l Predominate method is “Direct Routing” l Terminating network element is determined by the “N-1” operator l Look-up performed in a complete database of all ported numbers l Determine order negotiation method l Consumer must have clear method to indicate intention l Operators must be able to confirm consumer intent l Operator must be able to clearly agree on migration details l Migration data must be executed and published

Porting Timeline l There is a timeline of activities that must occur for each port l Target porting time is a major design consideration l Short times  consumer convenience and system complexity l Long times  consumer frustration and system simplicity l Short Timeline Activities l Consumer initiates port request with receiving operator l Receiving operator presents port request with credentials to donating operator l Donating operator confirms credentials and proposed timeframe l Receiving operator presents routing transfer parameters and final timeframe l Donating operator confirms routing data and final timeframe l Receiving operator activates the service l Receiving operator broadcasts routing data to all network operators l All within 3 hours!

National Number Portability Design considerations l Implementation Issues: l Method used by consumer to initiate a port request –One Stop or Two Stop –Automated or Manual l Method to Route Calls –Direct/All Calls Query, Indirect Rerouting, variations l Method used to specify routing parameters –Clearinghouse or Bilateral l Method used to broadcast activation information –Real-time or Batch l Method for cost recover –Porting parties pay or All subscribers pay

Implementations throughout the World

Mobile Number Portability Implementations CountryImplementation Date Implementation Type Implementation costs Ports 1Hong Kong1999Centralized> 19 Million Euros by June Netherlands1999Distributed and Centralized 20 Million Euros in UK1999CentralizedN/A 4Denmark2001CentralizedN/A60000 by 1H Italy2001DistributedN/A2.8 Million by Sep Norway2001CentralizedN/A 7Germany2002CentralizedN/A 8Ireland2002Centralized27 Million EurosN/A 9France2003CentralizedN/A 10USA2003CentralizedN/A8 Million in 2004

MNP Case Study 1 - USA l Mobile Number Portability introduced in 2003 l Delayed twice to allow operators additional time to prepare l Used a “mature” system for network porting activities l Used a new system for ordering activities l 8 Million Customers ported their numbers in the first year l Most customers ported to the largest mobile operator (Verizon Wireless) and one of the smallest mobile operator (T-Mobile) l Local Conclusion: Successful l Key Success Factors –Automated porting process –Time taken for porting was small (few hours to a couple of days) –Fixed to mobile, mobile to mobile was introduced nationwide at the same time l Outcome: High port counts, high customer satisfaction

MNP Case Study 2 - UK l Mobile Number Portability introduced in 1999 l 3% of the Mobile subscribers ported their numbers l Local Conclusion: Not Successful l Key Causes –Longer porting durations (up to 7 days) –Customers were charged to port away (in some cases 30 GBP, eventually dropped) –Two step porting process impacted customer convenience l Outcome: Low port counts, low adoption rate, little impact on competition

Effect on Service Providers – Revenue l Data Source – public financial data for top 100 world-wide telecommunications providers l Conclusion – Number Portability involves investments, but companies in that environment fared better

National Preparation Timeline l Months Prior l Solidify regulations l Organize collaborative organization for evaluating porting model l 12 Months Prior l Determine porting model –Geographic/Jurisdictional scope of valid port requests –Evaluate use of US/Canada NPAC system –Evaluate need for multi-jurisdictional centralized processing systems l 9 Months Prior l Settle on porting standards l 6 Months Prior l Finish central system(s) preparation, begin acceptance testing l 3 Months Prior l Finish local system(s) preparation, begin interoperability testing l Go live l Plan on close monitoring for 6 to 12 months after

Number Portability in Caribbean l Will require extensive preparation l Plan on 12 to 18 months lead time l Clarify regulations l Establish a viable implementation model l Involve all operators, regulators, and effected vendors l Will require specialized knowledge & technology l Operating central clearing house l Adapting sub-systems to support portability l Processes l Will require investment l Infrastructure investment l Software investment l People investment l Common Market approach will provide best leverage for the investment

Number Portability in Caribbean l Benefits: l Consumer choice l Fair-Playing Field Competition l Improved service levels from operators l Introduction of new, innovative services l Increased motivation for infrastructure investment

Evolving Systems’ Number Portability History Evolving Systems has an extensive history with Numbering Solutions

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