Following intense negotiations with the United Kingdom’s mobile phone operators, the country’s telecommunications regulator extended to Jan. 1, 1999, its number portability requirement for the mobile phone industry.
In August, the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel) announced U.K. mobile phone operators would be required to offer number portability by June 30. Number portability allows customers to use the same phone number when they switch to a different mobile phone service provider. Oftel issued the requirement as a way to stimulate more competition in the marketplace.
Cellular carriers Vodafone Group plc, Cellnet and personal communications network operator One to One objected to Oftel’s plan, saying the process was too technically difficult for that time frame. Orange plc, however, supported Oftel’s decision. Oftel said all four mobile operators plan to implement number portability by the Jan. 1 date.
“After a consultancy procedure, we reluctantly agreed that an extra six months was fair,” said an Oftel spokesman. In August, Oftel said the mid-1998 date was fixed unless the carriers could come up with overwhelming reasons why the deadline was impossible.
Oftel’s Director General of Telecommunications Don Cruickshank said: “We have had long and often tough negotiations with the operators about how quickly the new arrangements could be brought in. The target is not easy, but all four operators are now signed up and accept that technical administrative arrangements can be put in place by the target date.”
Orange announced in early October it was ready to meet the mid-1998 mandate. Orange is using a platform provided by Stratus Computer. The platform, developed for Orange to enhance its subscription management facilities, can be deployed in any standard Global System for Mobile communications network without the need for proprietary enhancements, said Stratus. It enabled Orange to accommodate the requirement for number portability simply by provisioning appropriate information in the database.
