Number portability assure:

The right for telephone service user to make well thought choices and to change telephone service provider without changing telephone number, when it is in his interest and without being disturbed by legal, technical or practical obstacles, including conditions, procedures, contractual obligations, etc.

Telephone number has been transformed into an element of personal identity which makes hard for user to give up at his number. In many cases user do not profit of new offers, even if they seems to be advantage, because of the obligation to change his number which accrues to for years and acquired personal or economic value. User’s possibility to keep his telephone number when service provider is changed increase its interests for alternative offers and assure more freedom of choice because eliminates the need to inform relatives about change of phone number.

Telephone number portability allays user’s fears of loss phone number and potential issues with its changing. Users benefit of new offers without resign their contact details.

Number portability represents a key factor to facilitate user choice in conditions of real competition on electronic communications services market and contribute to:

1. encouraging and attracting efficient investments in infrastructure sector;
2. development of competition in electronic communications sector;
3. effective functioning of the electronic communications market;
4. launch of new loyalty programs more compelling for users;
5. providing services more attractive and affordable for users;
6. increase services quality;
7. alignment with the practices of other countries in the sphere of human rights, with special focus on ensuring freedom in choice;
8. reducing tariffs for off-network calls;
9. improve knowledge and skills of service providers in the management, marketing and technology;
10. enhancing users’ satisfaction of electronic communications services, with special focus on ensuring the freedom to choose the telephone
      service provider;
11. increasing awareness of population about the tariffs for provision of electronic communications services;

Usually, the launch of number portability service not only determines active reducing of tariffs for local or in-network calls, but it also determines active reducing of tariffs for international calls and roaming. More than that, during first year of number portability launch some providers launch new diverse services offers and packages. This mobilizes other providers to develop new or additional services that could be included in composition of existing service packages. This process develops more slowly than the rapid reduction of tariffs but is continuous because is limited only by emergence of new technologies, provider’s imagination and availability of investments.
Experts consider that this is the main advantage for number portability launch because it mobilizes providers to develop stagnant market through the slight possibility to switch provider who “cares more” about user.