Glitch delays mobile number portability

If you are waiting for mobile number portability in the UAE to become reality, you might have to wait a bit longer.

According to an earlier announcement by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the UAE, the service - which will give mobile phone users in the country the choice to migrate to another service provider while retaining their existing mobile numbers - was to be available in the first quarter of 2011.

However, the TRA has now confirmed to Emirates 24|7 that it is running a bit late on schedule, and will only launch number portability after clearing unforeseen technical hurdles that have cropped along the way.

“The TRA was keen to launch Mobile Number Portability (MNP) on the target date. However, due to unforeseen technical reasons, the service was not launched.

"The TRA is currently working with the licensees to launch the service right after clearing the technical obstacles,” the media office of the TRA told this website.

The Authority had in January announced Q1 2011 as the revised date for launching the service, which has been delayed on a number of occasions since it was first announced in 2009. The initial delay was understood to have occurred because of the time taken to resolve several technical issues between the regulator and the telecoms operators, Etisalat and du.

The service is expected to benefit the consumers as the two operators will compete to hold onto their customers. “TRA considers safeguarding competition and ensuring optimal use of natural resources from the highest priorities and objectives of the TRA to enhance the ICT sector in the state,” the media office told this website.

"It will stimulate competition between the two operators because operators will try to hold onto their customers," Mohammad Nasser Al Ganem, TRA's Director-General, had told reporters earlier this year.

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