National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology of the Republic of Moldova

The three providers of mobile telephony services and the Administrator of the centralized data base for number portability brought to a successful end the testing of the technological processes of number porting and reported readiness to launch, on July 1, 2013, the new service. This was the message of yesterday’s press conference organized by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) dedicated to the launch of the number portability service in the Republic of Moldova.

As of July 1^st, mobile users will be able to change the mobile provider without having to change their telephone numbers. This is applicable to all mobile service providers, regardless of network, subscription or card used. Any users will be able to benefit from this service in a maximum of 5 working days from the moment he submits an application to the provider of his choice. Upon renouncing the mobile services of one provider (donor) in favor of another provider (acceptor), the user will not be charged by the donor for porting, the costs related to the portability service being incurred by the acceptor.

In his opening remarks, the Minister of Information Technology and Communications, Pavel Filip, declared that the implementation of number portability in the Republic of Moldova signifies a new stage in the development of the telephony service market and its approximation to European standards. Recent studies show that number portability offers important gains to both users that can benefit from more attractive offers without having to change their telephone numbers and providers that can increase their market shares. The Minister expressed his certitude that an enhanced competition between providers will not only bring about an extended range of services, but will also improve service quality and customer care.

In this context, ANRCETI Director, Sergiu Sîtnic, specified that the main three benefits offered by number portability are (i) increased freedom of choice for users, (ii) enhanced competition and (iii) tariff reduction. He stressed the fact that number portability reduces the reluctance of users to change the provider of telephony services and provides them with freedom of choice, causes the providers to come up with better services and more advantageous offers, whereas in the long run this will cause the reduction of differences between in-networks and out-of-network charges.

With reference to the history of number portability in the Republic of Moldova, Sergiu Sîtnic said that this exercise, absolutely new for this country, started in 2008, after the Law on Electronic Communications. At that time, ANRCETI constituted a Working Group composed of experts in the field and representatives of mobile and fixed telephone service providers. Teamed up with the Working Group, ANRCETI developed the concept, later – the Program for number portability implementation in Moldova for 2011 – 2013, subsequently approved by MTIC Order no. 52 of 30.06.2011. Based on this Program, ANRCETI developed and approved, with the active participation of the Working Group parties, the entire set of normative acts relevant for number portability implementation. The collaboration and consensus that we had with all the parties involved in the project makes us believe that it will be a successful endeavor, enhancing the competition on the telephony service market, estimated ANRCETI Director.  

Ala Baidauz, chief of an ANRCETI Division, explained to the audience the steps to be taken by users wishing to have their numbers ported to other networks, as well as the providers’ obligations to keep their users informed. For the purpose of correct information delivered to users, the providers are liable to make publicly available detailed information about the number porting service on their Internet pages, via customer service, as well as by offering the information directly to users, upon request.        

For the purpose of keeping the users informed, a Internet site has been launched for telephone users - www.portare.md, developed by the Administrator of the centralized data base (CDB) for number portability. In the conference, Iurie Bulgari, director of „NP Base” SRL, Administrator of the CDB, presented the informational resources of the site, including the search engine to find whether a certain number has or has not been subject to porting.

The conference protagonists also presented to the audience the distinctive tone, by which the providers who apply different tariffs for different destination networks, will notify the callers to ported numbers about this fact, free of charge. Also the providers demonstrated the result of the poring of several numbers to other networks and made phone calls to those ported numbers, with the use of the distinctive tone.  

The implementation of number portability is a provision of the Law on Electronic Communications, this service being considered an efficient measure of ensuring the users’ freedom of choice and of competition enhancement on the telephone market. The launch of number portability in fixed networks is scheduled for July 31, 2013.

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June 26, 2013