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

Today, July 22, 2011, the Official Gazette published the order of the Ministry of Information technology and Communications, (MTIC – www.mtic.gov.md), issued on June 30, approving the Program (doc. in state language) for Number Portability Implementation in Moldova for 2011 – 2013, which was developed by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI – www.anrceti.md). The Program provides for the implementation of number portability in mobile telephone networks before the end of 2012 and in fixed telephone networks before the end of 2011.

The main purpose of the program is to ensure the right of end users to choose the provider of public telephone services without having to change their telephone number. The authors of the program consider that the implementation of number portability will enhance competition, as this service will cause the providers to make additional efforts so as to maintain and attract new customers through more attractive offers and services at affordable prices. As well, as estimated, the launch of these services will reduce the existing differences between tariffs for in-network and out-network calls.

The document provides for the objectives, due actions, stages, terms and persons in charge of implementation, the expected results, procedures of reporting and evaluation of the number portability implementation. According to the Program, the number portability will be implemented in three stages:

During the first stage (2011) the Agency intends to develop the due normative framework: The Regulations on number portability in the Republic of Moldova and the Procedure for Organizing and Holding a tender, principles and criteria of selecting (an) entity/ies to create and/or administer the centralized data base for the implementation of number portability in fixed and mobile networks.

For the second stage (2012) the Program provides for the creation of the centralized data base for mobile networks, modification and testing of mobile networks, launch of mobile number portability.

During the third stage (2013), similar works will take place in fixed telephone networks. According to the Program, providers of public telephone networks and services, who will port numbers, will be responsible for the works planned for the second and third stages, whereas the entity/entities selected as a result of the tender will be responsible for the centralized data base.

Currently, the number portability service is implemented in more than 50 countries of the world, comprising over 154 million subscribers. Singapore was the first country to implement this service, in 1997. In Europe the service was launched in 1999, in Great Britain and Holland, then after 2003, retaining the telephone number by the subscriber became a legal requirement for all member countries of the European Union. Currently, the service is available in all the 27 EU countries.

July 22, 2011