Ofcom Website | Statement: Modification to the Number Portability General Condition and the National Telephone Numbering Plan

Ofcom Website | Statement: Modification to the Number Portability General Condition and the National Telephone Numbering Plan

Ofcom are holding a consultation on number portablility and the national telephone numbering plan.

In summary number porting should be encouraged where possible, especially for new wave telcos (using technologies such as VoIP).

There needs to be some controls so the consumer knows what call they are making i.e. there can be issues when porting a fixed number to a mobile network or vice versa, but porting between mobile networks shouldn't be hindered or between fixed networks.

However where in the past numbers have been tied to geographic areas, this should no longer be the case and they can be ported to services not tied to a location.

Ofcom may also intervene where providers do not port numbers (it may not be in there interest to do so) but gnerally the system will be left to run by the market.