After keeping them on hold for five years, the government has finally introduced measures that will allow Ukrainians to switch mobile phone operators without having to change their phone numbers.
All six Ukraine’s telecommunication operators will soon be required to offer mobile number portability (MNP), which has been available in most major mobile markets for some time: Singapore introduced number portability in 1997 and the United States followed suit in 2003. Currently, more than 70 countries use the service.
A long wait
MNP has been long in coming in Ukraine. It was to have been introduced at the beginning of 2011, exactly half a year after Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed a bill on July 2, 2010 to introduce the innovation. However, the tender process to set up the service was repeatedly delayed.
But by signing the economic part of its Association Agreement with the European Union in 2014, Ukraine agreed to comply with a range of requirements, including those in the telecoms sector. Under the agreement, Ukraine is to ensure it has competitive markets, overseen by transparent and effective regulators.
To meet the agreement’s requirements, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted its Action Plan for the Deregulation of Commercial Activity, which includes 16 measures connected to telecommunications. They included implementing MNP by the third quarter of 2015.
A respective bill was reconsidered on March 18, 2015, but implementation was delayed once more.
So even though clients of Ukraine telecom operators have de jure had the right to use the service for about six years, its de facto implementation will only come this year.
MNP in 2016
On Jan. 25 the Ukrainian State Center of Radio Frequencies (USCRF) held a meeting to announce the winner of a tender to provide MNP services in the country. The winner is obligated to:
– record data about the process of transferring numbers;
– ensure the proper exchange of numbers between mobile operators;
– keep a history of the changes;
– provide further technical support.
Seven companies initially bid in the tender, but only Poland’s T4B Group, along with Ukraine-based Ericsson Ukraine and Ukrainian IT company Dialink LLC met the requirements for final selection, as the others “violated the tender documentation procedure,” the USCRF selection panel said on Jan. 25.
Dialink LLC won the tender with a bid of about Hr 72 million. However, it has not yet been decided whether the work will be funded by the state alone, or together with the mobile operators.
Dialink uses the software platform of Lithuanian telecommunication company Mediafon, which has already launched and supported MNP in several other countries, including Lithuania, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Moldova and others.
Dialink CEO Oleksander Bass told the Kyiv Post that his company has already started testing the system it plans to use.
“We’re working with a company (Mediafon) that has introduced MNP in seven countries – they’re experienced at it,” Bass said. As a partner, “they give impetus to the process, as we use their software, but the labor force is always going to be ours.”
“We’ve been trying out the system for some time, and we’re ready to begin implementing it anytime,” Bass said.
More delays
But it looks like MNP will be delayed again: Poland’s Т4B Group has accused the USCRF of violating legislation during the holding of the tender and has taken legal action. The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine is to hear the claim of Т4B against the USCRF on March 2.
Despite the legal challenge, the USCRF is sticking to its prediction that MNP will finally be introduced in Ukraine in 2016.
“A decision has to be taken within 30 working days after the hearing,” press secretary at the USCRF Igor Khaliavinskiyi told the Kyiv Post. “This could postpone the implementation of the MNP for one-and-a-half months.”
But the service will be definitely by launched in 2016, Khaliavinskyi said.
Expected changes
Andrey Lebedev, the manager of the Regulatory Affairs and Strategy Division at mobile operator lifecell, doesn’t expect a rush of subscribers between operators with the introduction of MNP, however. According to him, the high mobile termination rate (MTR) – the fee mobile phone companies charge other carriers to terminate calls on their networks – will discourage people from changing network operators.
“It makes no sense for subscribers to change the operator if calls to friends and relatives who have remained in the old network become more expensive,” Lebedev said. The MTR is currently Hr 0.23 (1 cent) per minute, and “it’s expected to be reduced by (only) up to Hr 0.05 by July 2016.”
Nevertheless, MNP’s role on the telecom market is important in encouraging fair competition between the operators, Lebedev told the Kyiv Post.
“MNP will positively impact the competitive environment,” Lebedev said. “It will motivate operators to actively compete for subscribers, while (simultaneously) reducing costs and increasing the quality of their services.”
With the introduction of MNP, cutting prices and providing better services will be the only way Ukraine’s mobile operator can retain their client bases, he said.
How is MNP going to work?
To transfer a number, subscribers will have to submit a written request to their new operator, or fill an online application on the operator’s website.
– The network code in the number will not change;
– Subscribers calling the transferred number will receive a warning voice message informing them the recipient has a different operator to the one indicated by the network code;
– Users will not retain the current terms of his/her price plan, and will have to choose a new one from their new operator;
– The transfer procedure will take up to three working days for mobile networks, and up to seven for fixed-line numbers. Until the transfer is complete, the previous operator continues servicing the number;
– The price of the service will be set by the operators;
– The transfer of phone numbers cannot be done anonymously;
– Pre-paid credit on the user’s old account is to be transferred to their account with the new operator.
Kyiv Post staff writer Denys Krasnikov can be reached at [email protected]. The Kyiv Post’s IT coverage is sponsored by Ciklum, Steltec Capital, 1World Online and SoftServe. The content is independent of the donors.
