OPTA seeks better mobile number portability service step-by-step

Mobile operators must ensure that applications from customers to take their numbers with them from one operator to the next are processed accurately and promptly. By March next year the quality of this service must be so good that 95% of all instances are dealt with smoothly. In order to ensure that mobile phone operators and service providers achieve this level of service, the OPTA Commission has decided to impose a conditional penalty. This is to say that any provider who fails to satisfy these requirements will run the risk of having to pay a penalty of NLG 75,000.00 per month (in the case of a provider who is surrendering a number) to NLG 250,000 per month (in the case of a provider who receives such a number). The total value of such penalties is also subject to a maximum.

OPTA has received numerous complaints since number portability became mandatory and has actually been offered. The bulk of these complaints concern the delay in dealing with applications, the complex procedures of and inadequate information supplied by the providers. The number of complaints has diminished in the meantime, although OPTA feels that further improvement is required in relation to the level of service. Within three days any customer who registers with a new provider and who asks whether he can keep his number, must receive clarity as to how his application is being processed and the date on which his number will become operational through the new operator. In the end, if this does not occur smoothly in 95% of all cases, there is a chance that the relevant provider will have to pay a penalty.

The teething problems experienced in respect of number portability since the date on which it was introduced (1 April 1999) have presented OPTA with grounds to impose a penalty on a number of providers. In all of these cases the companies concerned failed to offer their customers the chance to switch to another mobile phone provider within a reasonable period while retaining their number.

By March 2000 the level of this service must be so high that 95% of all cases run smoothly.