Experts: Operators have invested a lot but the output is very small, and number portability may be difficult to implement nationwide

Number portability, also known as number portability without changing the number, mainly includes fixed number portability and mobile number portability. At present, simplifying the number portability process is to reduce the obstacles to porting out and promote the full implementation of portability. Number portability is conducive to optimizing the market structure and achieving effective competition. However, some experts believe that under the current situation where operators generally increase speed and reduce fees, promoting number portability is no longer meaningful.

According to the latest arrangement of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, five provinces (cities) including Tianjin, Hainan, Jiangxi, Hubei and Yunnan have recently started the new service acceptance process for number portability. Compared with the past, the new process is more convenient and faster, which will help to realize number portability services nationwide in 2020.

Simplifying the number portability process is to reduce the obstacles to porting out and promote the full implementation of portability. However, some experts have pointed out that in the current situation where operators generally increase speed and reduce fees, the difference in tariffs is not large, and dual-SIM dual-standby mobile phones are very popular, so the huge cost of number portability is no longer meaningful. In response to related issues, Economic Daily China Economic Net reporters interviewed relevant departments and experts.

Policy implementation is slow

Number portability, also known as number portability, mainly includes fixed number portability and mobile number portability. In simple terms, it means switching from one telecom operator's network to another telecom operator's network without changing the phone number.

In October 2006, the former Ministry of Information Industry issued the "Notice of the Ministry of Information Industry on Guaranteeing the Right of Mobile Phone Users to Choose Tariff Plans". This document was regarded by the industry as the earliest "number portability" policy, but the actual pilot progress was slow. On November 22, 2010, the first batch of number portability pilot projects of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology were launched in Tianjin and Hainan. On May 17, 2014, Hainan Province officially provided users with a two-way number portability service trial. Hainan Telecom, Hainan Mobile, and Hainan Unicom mobile network users can freely port their numbers to other local operators in Hainan Province. On September 20, 2014, the second batch of number portability pilot projects were launched in Jiangxi, Hubei, and Yunnan.

The slow progress of number portability is mainly due to the large investment in technology and system support transformation. The technical support preparation for number portability involves network transformation, user system transformation, database construction, system testing and service trials. At the same time, many problems were found during the pilot process, such as settlement between operators and the establishment of a third-party centralized database system to synchronize data across the entire network. The cost of implementing these technical transformations is huge.

"To promote technological transformation across the country and realize number portability, it will require an investment of at least tens of billions of yuan," Xiang Ligang, a well-known observer of the communications industry, told reporters.

It is not difficult to understand why operators have no motivation to promote number portability. On the contrary, in order to avoid user loss, some operators will set various transfer thresholds. Previously, many users reported that the threshold for number portability is high, and contract phones, package periods and any unpaid bills cannot be processed. There are also some unreasonable terms and conditions. In addition, even if the user meets the conditions, they need to go to the business hall many times from inquiry, application to processing, which invisibly increases the chance of being retained. At the same time, users also reported that the previously bound bank, WeChat, Alipay, Didi Taxi and other information cannot be used after the network transfer.

Therefore, since the pilot, not many users have successfully ported their numbers. Data shows that as of the end of December 2016, only 450,000 users in the five pilot regions had successfully ported their numbers.

Obstacles basically eliminated

In August 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology clearly stated that it would promote number portability services nationwide in 2020. Starting from December 1, 2018, operators in Tianjin, Hainan, Jiangxi, Hubei and Yunnan launched new service acceptance procedures.

"Compared with the old process, the new process has two improvements," said Huang Hexian, senior project manager of the Standardization Institute of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology. First, it is more convenient and faster. In the past, users had to call customer service or go to the business hall to check whether their number met the conditions for number portability. The process was cumbersome and opaque. After the new process was launched, a method for checking the eligibility for number portability was added. Users can check the eligibility for number portability by sending text messages. Some companies also provide query methods such as mobile halls and online halls. The improvement of the new process enables users to obtain business handling information more conveniently, accurately and directly, avoiding users from making unnecessary trips, which greatly improves user perception.

Second, it greatly improves the efficiency of network portability. In the past, after users applied for network portability, they had to wait until after 10 pm that day to officially transfer to the new operator. After the new process is activated, users can officially transfer to the new operator within 1 hour (until the next hour) after completing the network portability service, which greatly shortens the time for network portability.

"Compared with the old process, the new process greatly reduces the number of times users have to run around, thus avoiding the difficulties and excessive retention of the outgoing operators, and speeding up the convenience of network switching. This is a major change after the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's number management platform was put into commercial use. At the same time, it also means that the obstacles to number portability have been basically eliminated, and there is a high possibility that it will be fully implemented next year." Telecom expert Fu Liang said in an interview with reporters.

Despite this, some users reported that after sending text messages in accordance with relevant requirements, they received replies that the system was busy and could not process the service. In addition, many users were trapped by pre-deposit, call fee refund and other activities and did not meet the conditions for network switching.

In this regard, Fu Liang said that according to the new process, users only need to go to the business hall once, and transfer to the operator's business hall, which is difficult to simplify further.

Reduced user demand

Huang Hexian believes that the new process of number portability is based on the summary of previous trials, with the aim of fully respecting the user's right to choose and continuously improving the user service level, making the number portability service process more convenient, fast, open and transparent. The improvement of this process has also accumulated valuable experience for the future development of number portability services in other provinces across the country.

Obviously, the introduction of the new process is to prepare for the nationwide implementation of number portability. Experts believe that number portability is beneficial to consumers and is also conducive to optimizing the market structure and achieving effective competition. For consumers, number portability can reduce the cost of switching. For the country, number portability can save number resources.

The original intention of number portability is to promote fair and effective competition in the telecommunications market. In recent years, the three major operators have promoted speed increase and fee reduction. In 2017, long-distance and roaming charges for mobile phones were completely abolished (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan). On July 1, 2018, the distinction between local traffic and national traffic was abolished again. According to comprehensive calculations, in the three years since the network speed increase and fee reduction work was launched, my country's mobile traffic charges have dropped by more than 90%, and broadband fixed charges have also dropped by more than 90%, benefiting more than 1 billion people. In addition, with the introduction of virtual operators, operators are more competitive and the difference in charges is not large. In addition, with the development of smart phones, dual-SIM dual-standby phones have become very popular, solving the needs of many users to switch networks.

Under such circumstances, some experts believe that number portability has already had a market foundation. "The implementation of number portability is not only beneficial to users who switch networks, but also to all users. Because of the pressure of number portability, operators will be more proactive in launching lower-rate packages, more proactive in launching preferential packages to old users, and then proactively optimize old packages." Fu Liang believes that after the full liberalization of number portability, it may be beneficial to leading operators, unless the operator maintains high prices.

However, some experts believe that the current meaning of number portability is not significant. Xiang Ligang said that number portability is only valuable when there is a difference in communication services. Nowadays, the tariffs and services of several operators are becoming more consistent. Many ordinary consumers can afford dual SIM cards and even use two mobile phones, which greatly reduces the demand for number portability. To promote number portability, operators have invested a lot but the output is very small. There are not many users who really need it. It may be difficult to implement it nationwide in the next step.