TCI or Telecommunications Connectivity Inc. (TCI), is the joint venture company formed by DITO, Globe and Smart to enable number porting services in compliance with the Mobile Number Portability law. The TCI is the implementing arm for all activities between mobile service providers on one hand and the mobile number portability service provider (or the clearinghouse) on the other.

“The entire telco industry and the Philippine government are pushing forward with the same goal of providing Filipinos with better telco services. Aside from encouraging healthier competition amongst the players, MNP also grants Filipinos the freedom to switch to their preferred mobile service provider seamlessly and conveniently. Na walang alinlangan,” said Atty. Adel Tamano, treasurer, Telecommunications Connectivity Inc. chief administrative officer, DITO Telecommunity. 

A separate entity is required to facilitate decision-making and approvals in the various contracts that will be entered into during the course of the implementation of mobile number portability. It will be too unwieldy to secure approvals from the 3 operators of any decision or contract that will have to be entered into with third parties. 

Melanie A. Manuel has been named the TCI’s Interim General Manager. Manuel is an Industrial Engineering graduate whose telco work experience includes Domestic Carrier Relations, International and Domestic Settlements, Settlement Systems, IS Business Analysis, and Human Resource Management. 

TCI will be coterminous with the implementation of mobile number portability. For as long as the law requires mobile number portability, TCI will continue to exist for the same reasons it was organized. Note though that TCI will just be on limited manpower complement.

Mobile Number Portability or MNP, as a global practice enables a mobile phone customer to keep their number even when they switch networks or change their subscription from postpaid to prepaid and vice versa. The process itself is free of charge.

Republic Act No. 11202, also known as the Mobile Number Portability Act, ensures that mobile phone users can keep their numbers even when they transfer to another service provider, or when they switch their subscription from postpaid to prepaid, or vice-versa. 

MNP helps promote consumer welfare by fostering the freedom to choose and to respond to quality, price and other relevant considerations without consumers having to change their mobile numbers whenever they change mobile service providers or subscription plans. Porting is FREE. 

To port within networks, one needs to meet the following requirements: ● An active SIM and the requestor is the assignee of the mobile number to be ported 

● No remaining balance from your previous bill (for postpaid) 

● No existing court prohibitions 

● No pending transfer of ownership 

MNP will be commercially available in the Philippines on September 30, 2021. 

Unlike earlier implementations of MNP, the mobile business has grown in complexity because of the vast array of service offerings and customization that are attached to a mobile number, which may not easily be unbundled when moving to another service provider. The three operators also have different channels for topping up prepaid loads and differ in systems which greatly affect interoperability.

The operators have invested a total of P120 Million, so far. It is expected, however, that they will spend more because under the Mobile Number Portability law, the service is free of charge for the customer.

Syniverse was chosen by the Philippine mobile operators through a technical and commercial evaluation system to be the mobile number portability service provider (MNPSP). The company will bring in the technical infrastructure to fulfill its primary function as clearinghouse for the three telcos and ensuring smooth implementation of number porting services. 

Following the practice in almost all parts of the world, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11202 that allows mobile subscribers to keep their mobile phone numbers for life. The new law requires mobile service provides to provide nationwide mobile number portability to subscribers.

The Republic Act No. 11202 known as Mobile Number Portability Act aims “to promote consumer welfare as it fosters the freedom to choose and to respond to quality, price, and other relevant considerations without the consumers having to change their mobile numbers whenever they change mobile service providers or subscription plan. 

This gives both postpaid or prepaid mobile subscribers who has no existing financial obligation to the service provider, to retain an existing mobile number despite having moved from one mobile service provider to another, or to change subscription mode from postpaid to prepaid or vice versa.

The said law is an offshoot and integration of two version from the Senate, which is Senate Bill No. 1636 and House of Representative House Bill No. 7652.

Furthermore, the  Section 3 (a) of the law states: “The basic premise behind a nationwide Mobile Number Portability Act system is to promote consumer welfare as it fosters the freedom to choose and to respond to quality, price and other relevant considerations without the consumers having to change their mobile numbers whenever they change mobile service providers or subscription plans.”

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has 90 days to issue its implementing rules and regulations, and mobile telecommunication service providers have six months from promulgation of such rules to set up the mechanism for number portability and “comply with the provisions of this Act.”

Under the new law, these service providers have to provide mobile number portability to subscribers nationwide free of charge. The law further says that “in no case” can mobile number portability “be delayed, withheld, refused, or otherwise not delivered within the period provided under this Act.”

Every telecommunication service provider has to change subscription mode within 24 hours from the time a subscriber submits application, according to the law.

The law provides authority to the NTC to impose a P10,000 fine in case portability is not provided within the period set under the law. Also, a fine of not less than P40,000 will be imposed in case mobile number portability “is unjustly refused even after mediation”.

Subsequent violations would provide stiffer fines of P100,000 to P1 million plus revocation of franchise on the fifth time.