Hong Kong Considers Number Portability Between Mobile and Land Phones

Hong Kong's telecoms regulator, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) has issued a consultation paper to solicit public views on various issues in connection with the voluntary implementation of Fixed Mobile Number Portability (FMNP).

Under the present arrangement, subscribers to the service provided by one fixed network operator may port their numbers to another fixed network operator. Likewise, subscribers to the service provided by one mobile network operator may port their numbers to another mobile network operator. However, cross platform number portability between fixed and mobile networks, commonly known as FMNP, is not yet available in Hong Kong .

"FMNP allows fixed and mobile users to port their fixed or mobile numbers to any fixed or mobile network as they like. Generally speaking, FMNP should help increase cross platform competition between the fixed and mobile network operators, provide innovative solution to meet the demand of the customers and encourage more efficient use of the scarce public resource of numbers ," a spokesperson of OFTA said.

"However, there are views requesting the Telecommunications Authority ("TA") to assess carefully the impacts brought about by the introduction of FMNP in order to ensure that the regulatory regime is conducive to market development and consumer welfare ," the spokesperson continued.

"A consumer survey commissioned by the TA reveals that around one-fourth of respondents who are using fixed service may port their numbers to mobile service if the FMNP service is provided free of charge. The corresponding figure for porting mobile numbers to the fixed networks is much lower," the spokesperson elaborated.

"Having considered the public demand for FMNP as revealed by the consumer survey, relevant overseas experience and the fact that market force is the best way to determine the market outcome, the TA is of the preliminary view while there is insufficient justification to mandate the implementation of FMNP, it should be in the public interest to allow individual network operators to make their own business decisions to implement FMNP on a voluntary basis," the spokesperson said.

Interested parties are invited to submit their views on or before 30 December 2008.

Posted to the site on 3rd November 2008