By To Lee The China Post 2005/10/14
The Directorate General of Telecommunications (DGT) yesterday held the launching ceremony of the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) service, which would enable mobile phone users to keep their phone numbers when switching carriers.
The processing fee for switching carriers is set at NT$240 and will take up to four working days to complete. DGT announced that the number of days needed to process a request is expected to decrease to two by next year. The ultimate aim, said DGT, is to complete the carrier switch on the day the application is filed.
With the new service now available to the public, mobile phone users no longer have to worry about missing important phone calls when switching carriers, said DGT.
The application process would be simplified to allow greater convenience to mobile phone users, said DGT. People hoping to switch carriers can easily complete the process with a one-stop visit to the service operator, explained DGT.
Korea has already implemented the MNP service. According to its statistics, approximately 20 percent of the mobile phone users would switch carriers during the first year. The figure would taper of slightly the second year.
Domestic service carriers estimated that there will be close to 4 million switches within a year of the implementation of the new service. Some of the carriers are planning to provide discounted rates to retain existing customers.
A centralized database would be used to handle the routing information of ported subscribers among the service carriers. Taiwan would be the first nation in Asia to utilize such a database for both Mobile and Fixed NP services.
The database would be managed by the Telecom Technology Center. Technical support provided by the Computer and Communications Research Lab of Industrial Technology Research Institute would deal with concerns regarding security and efficiency matters.
Premier Frank Hsieh, who presided over the ceremony, lauded DGT's effort. He pointed out that the new service is a testament to the liberation of the telecommunication industry in Taiwan. However, Hsieh urged service carriers to lower their rates further in order to benefit all mobile phone users.