BTRC diktat throws MNP service launch into trouble

The BTRC has instructed operators to route ported numbers once the mobile number portability or MNP is launched, triggering complexities even before the service could kick in.

Mobile phone operators say it is the job of the gateway operators to route ported numbers, not theirs.

The MNP service enables users to switch operators without changing their numbers.

The mobile operators say the decree has jeopardised the entire process when they were doing final tests for MNP.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission sent the instruction to the mobile operators on June 25 while the MNP service is scheduled to be launched in August.

The three private mobile operators - Grameenphone, Banglalink and Robi – wrote jointly to the BTRC detailing the operational, technological and commercial impact of the instruction on the MNP launch.

A top official of a mobile operator told bdnews24.com that the international gateway (IGW) and interconnection exchange (ICX) operators are supposed to route ported numbers.

“The necessary technical improvement will have to be done by the mobile operators, which will make the work technologically complex. But we have not been given additional time to do the job,” the official said.

The mobile operators in their letter also said the BTRC instruction is contradictory to the International Long Distance Telecommunication Services Policy and Regulatory and Licensing Guidelines for Mobile Number Portability.

The operators were supposed to start user acceptance test on July 8 and MNP service on July 31, according to the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh or AMTOB Secretary General TIM Nurul Kabir.

“Now it is impossible to make changes in the topology if the MNP service is to be launched within the deadline,” he said.

All the preparations to launch the MNP service are ‘almost complete’ and it will be possible to begin the test run on July 31, BTRC Vice Chairman Jahurul Haque told bdnews24.com.

“An instruction has been issued, but it should not create big problem,” he said about the instruction on routing ported numbers.

Bangladesh-Slovenia joint venture Infozillion BD Teletech received the licence to offer MNP services in November last year.

The subscribers will be able to switch operators by paying Tk 30 without having to change the number. They will have to wait for 90 days to migrate to another network.

The use of a mobile-phone number over a period of time makes it a part of an individual or organisation’s identity. But they often have to switch operators to take advantage of a better network or more competitive plans on offer.

Now operators are likely to try to improve their services in an attempt to keep their customers hooked.