Mobile Number Portability Challenges and Solutions

Volume 2 Special Issue ISSN 2079-8407
Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences
©2010-11 CIS Journal. All rights reserved.
http://www.cisjournal.org
Mobile Number Portability: Challenges and solutions

Atiya Faiz Khan
Department of MCA, Priyadarshini College of Engineering
Hingna Road, Nagpur. Maharastra (INDIA)
atiyakhan15@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Increasing numbers of countries require mobile telephone networks to offer mobile number portability (MNP).The term
MNP allows customers who wish to switch mobile operator to keep their mobile numbers, avoiding the costs of switching
to new numbers. Customers are predominantly reluctant to switch their network operator if this means that they would
have to change their telephone number. Changing one’s telephone numbers can be a major inconvenience and a potential
barrier preventing the general public from taking advantage of the options available in a developed competitive
telecommunications market. The implementation of number portability initiatives in many key markets created new
opportunities and improved the consumer’s experience, but terminating calls into number-portability countries became
more difficult, confusing and expensive as a result. The absence of number portability may therefore give the incumbent
operators a significant competitive advantage over new entrants into the market.
Keywords: mobile telecommunications, cost-benefit analysis, competitive, switching costs, operators.
I. INTRODUCTION significant switching costs for consumers and will

encourage competition in the telecommunications
Mobile Number portability (MNP) enables industry.
mobile subscribers to change their service providers or This paper discusses: Types of number
their location without having to change their existing portability. various call routing schemes for service
phone numbers. If the subscribers are not satisfied with the provider number portability, comparisons among various
services of their service provider, they can change their routing schemes, challenges of implementing number
service provider while retaining the existing phone portability, best solution in terms of complexity of
number. This infuses competition among service providers implementation, use of network resources, and scalability.
and forces them to improve their service standards to
check subscriber churn. Many countries have made II. TYPES OF NUMBER
number portability mandatory to liberalize competition. PORTABILITY
Many others are in the process of implementing it. A
significant technical aspect of implementing number The various types of number portability are:
portability is related to the routing of calls or mobile
messages (SMS, MMS) to a number once it is ported to A. Provider Number Portability: Subscribers can
some other network. Number portability is essential to change the service provider while retaining the
maximize the benefits of a competitive same phone number. It is also called operator
telecommunications market. For example, Number portability.
Portability of the type that allows users to keep their 1. Local Number Portability: - The subscriber
telephone number when changing operator provides retains its number when changing from one
significant benefits: operator/service provider to another. E.g. the
porting of existing directory number between
1. To the porting user, it eliminates the cost of informing fixed operators.
other parties of the number change, changing stationery 2. Mobile Number Portability:-Porting of
and other signage and, in the case of business users, of lost mobile telephone numbers between wireless
business operators.
2. To callers, it eliminates the need to consult directory 3. Non-geographical Number Portability:-
enquires and/or change entries in their address books or Porting of ‘service’ numbers, e.g. ‘800’-
computer systems. numbers.
3. It increases competition, with significant benefits for all
users, by lowering the cost to users of switching operator B. Location Number Portability: Subscribers can
or service provider. change their service location while keeping the
It is believed that when fully and nationally same telephone number.
implemented by both wire line and wireless service
providers, number portability will remove one of the most
1
C. Service Portability: Subscribers can change the dialed number. The Originating Network uses the routing
subscribed services while retaining the same information to route the call to the new serving network.
telephone number. Service portability allows the
subscribers to enjoy the subscribed services in the
same way when they roam outside their home
networks. The subscriber retains its number when
changing service type. E.g. from POTS to ISDN,
mobile to fixed, fixed to mobile.
This paper discusses service provider number
portability (SPNP), as SPNP is the primary form of
number portability that promotes competition among the
mobile service providers.
II. SERVICE PROVIDER NUMBER

PORTABILITY CALL ROUTING
SCHEMES
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has
Fig 1 All Call Query
defined four flavours of call routing that support number
portability. These schemes are: B. Query on Release (QoR)
A. All Call Query (ACQ) The Originating Network receives a call from the
B. Query on Release (QoR) caller and routes the call to the donor network. The donor
C. Call Dropback network releases the call and indicates that the dialed
D. Onward Routing (OR) number has been ported out of that network. The
Originating Network sends a query to its copy of the
Before we discuss the technical aspects and various call centrally administered NPDB. The NPDB returns the
routing schemes in detail, let us understand some terms in routing information of the dialed number. The Originating
the context of mobile network and number portability. Network uses the routing information to route the call to
the new serving network.
• Donor Network: It is the network that first
assigns a telephone number to a subscriber.
• Recipient Network: It is the network that
currently serves the ported number. A recipient
network is a network that a subscriber’s number is
ported to when the subscriber switches the service
provider.
• Old Serving Network: The old serving network
is the network that previously served the ported
number before the number was ported to the new
serving network. Since a subscriber can switch
service provider any number of times, the old SP is
not necessarily the same as the donor network.
• Participant: A Participant is a service provider
who is not related to the porting process in any way
and still needs the routing information for call routing Fig 2 Query on Release
and various other activities.
A. All Call Query (ACQ) C. Call Dropback

The Originating Network receives a call from the This scheme is also known as “Return to Pivot
caller and sends a query to a centrally administered (RTP).” The call steps are as follows.
Number Portability Database (NPDB) also called central The Originating Network receives a call from the
database (CDB). Network operators generally keep local caller and routes the call to the donor network. The donor
copies of the CDB, which is hosted on either a network network detects that the dialed directory number has been
element within their network or a third party network ported out of the donor switch and checks with an internal
element. The NPDB returns the routing information of the
2
network-specific NPDB. The internal NPDB returns the III. COMPARISONS OF THE
routing number associated with the dialed directory NUMBER PORTABILITY
number. The donor network releases the call by providing
the routing number. The Originating Network uses the SCHEMES
routing number to route the call to the new serving
network. Of the four number portability call routing
implementations discussed above, the ACQ is the only
implementation that does not involve the donor network
when routing the call to a new serving network. Thus, the
ACQ scheme is the most efficient in terms of using the
network resources for routing the call to a ported number.
The OR scheme requires to setup two physical
calls - one from the originating network to the donor
network and the other from the donor network to the new
serving network. This increases the usage of network
resources and hence is the least efficient in terms of using
the network transmission facilities.
The QoR and Call Dropback schemes set up calls
to the donor network first but release the call back to the
originating network that then initiates a new call to the
Current Serving Network.
In the QoR and Dropback schemes, dedicated
signalling circuits are set up between the originating
network and the donor network when the originating
Fig 3 Call Drop Scheme
network sets up the call towards the donor network. This
complexity increases the signalling between the networks
D. Onward Routing (OR) and hence the cost of the call to a ported number increases.
The Originating Network receives a call from the IV. IMPLEMENTATION
caller and routes the call to the donor network. The donor
network detects that the dialed directory number has been
There are two fundamental issues that need to be
ported out of the donor switch and checks with an internal
considered in implementing number portability in a
network-specific NPDB. The internal NPDB returns the
country.
routing number associated with the dialed directory
number. The donor network uses the routing number to • Number Porting Process: This applies to the
route the call to the new serving network. This method of policies and processes for porting the numbers.
routing calls is also known as Call Forwarding
• Call Routing: This applies to the scheme of
routing a call to a ported number.
1. Number Porting Process: Procedure and

Considerations
Number porting process involves a set of parties,
which includes donor (or current serving SP), recipient
(new SP) and many participants (other service providers
not related to the number that is being ported). The basic
requirement of the porting process is that a subscriber
needs to initiate a request to the service provider. The
request can be initiated to either of the service providers
(current serving SP or the new SP). This depends on the
regulatory policies of the country. There are two
approaches by which the number porting database can be
maintained and implemented.
Fig 4 Onward Routing Scheme
• Peer-to-Peer approach
• Centralized approach
3
The centralized approach is the most preferred

1) Peer-to-Peer approach solution and is widely used across the globe. This is a
highly scalable implementation.
In this approach, there is a bilateral agreement
between two service providers. The two service providers
agree on the implementation of number portability based
on proprietary interface. With this non-standard approach,
there can be multiple commercial agreements between the
service providers, which make it difficult to manage the
terms of each agreement, and track the porting requests.
This approach is very complex, and the complexity is
further increased with increasing number of service
providers.
2) Centralized approach
In this approach, the regulatory authority of the
country sets up the guidelines, policies and processes for
number portability. All the service providers in the
country have a shared and well-defined interface with a Fig 6 Centralized Approach
centralized NP administration center for processing the
porting request of a number. This adheres to a clear set of B. Call Routing
service level agreements for each of the steps involved in
the process and it is mandatory for the service providers to As discussed earlier, All Call Query (ACQ)
follow them. scheme is the most efficient in terms of using network
resources. The advantages of using ACQ to implement
number portability are: No dependency on other network
for routing the call. Easy billing for calls to the ported
numbers. Call set-up time for calls to ported numbers is
minimal. Minimal impact on signaling. Impact on network
complexity is very less.
V. FACTORS INFLUENCING THE

SUCCESS OF NUMBER
PORTABILITY
• Subscriber Awareness: Subscribers needs
to be aware of Number Portability (NP), its
advantages, and how to go about it.
• Simplicity: NP success mainly depends on the
simplicity of the process. There could be many
Fig 5 Peer to Peer Approach
rules that the regulator may impose. For example,
a number can’t be ported in the first 6 months of
Any porting request from any of the service
the subscription. Such forced conditions hamper
providers is sent to the NP administration center first, to
the success of NP.
which all the service providers’ number portability
solutions are integrated with. A request that comes from • Speed: Speed is one of the major factors that
the new SP to the NP administration center is sent to the affect the success of NP. Service level
present serving SP for clearance and once this is done the agreements should be stringent enough to
central NP administration center broadcasts the porting minimize the time taken to port the number to
information to all the service providers in the country. As other network. This increases the level of
specified above, the porting request can be initiated by customer satisfaction
either of the current serving SP or the new SP (recipient). • Cost factor: NP success also depends on the
This is decided by the regulatory body of the country. cost of porting the number. The lower the cost,
the higher will be the rate of porting. The cost
here refers to the amount that the subscribers
4
need to pay to port their number to some other maintenance cost includes the following: Cost for the
service provider’s network. This all depends on agreed procedure involved in the porting process,
the regulatory authority that decides who bears activating the ported number, provisioning the routing
the cost of porting. For better success and market information, and informing all the service providers of the
competition, it is recommended that the new ported number
service provider, who is getting the subscriber,
bear the cost of porting. C. Call Routing Costs
• Handset subsidies and fixed-term
agreements: NP has been a great success in Routing the call to a ported number is one of the
the countries like Finland where there are no major issues in NP. In case of ACQ, the originating
subsidies on mobile handsets. Subsidies given by network needs to make a query to the NP database
the service providers lead to fixed term irrespective of whether the called number is ported or not.
agreements and hence limits the option for the Even the other schemes of NP implementation has their
subscriber to switch to a different service own impacts on the network signaling, database queries,
provider. There can be other agreements, which and other network resources, which directly influence the
can hinder the success of NP. network traffic adding on to the cost.
VI. CHALLENGES OF VII. SOLUTION

IMPLEMENTING NUMBER
PORTABILITY Many countries have their own guidelines on
how to share the costs incurred in NP implementation.
The major challenges of implementing number Regulatory bodies can consider the following points in
portability are: Cost involved in upgrading the network arriving at a better model for cost sharing to implement
infrastructure to support number portability. Cost involved number portability. Number of subscribers per service
in maintaining the upgraded infrastructure. Cost involved provider should be the base at the time of setting up the
in the usage of network resources to route the calls to the NP System. The service providers can incur the annual
ported number maintenance costs for using the service of the central
NPDB. This can be for the services used such as NPDB
A. Number Portability Setup Costs system and customer help desk usage. These costs should
be based on the usage of the central NPDB or based on the
This is one of the major deterring factors for NP quality of service such as the bandwidth for accessing the
implementation in any country. There are many expenses central NPDB. Recipient service provider can pay for the
involved in NP system setup. The setup costs include the costs incurred by the centralized NPDB for any subscriber
cost of setting up the central NPDB, which maintains the that ports to its network. Recipient service provider can
complete information on the porting details, providing a pay for the costs incurred by the donor for each ported
well-defined interface for the service providers to interact number. The central NPDB should be a non-profitable or
with apart from adhering to the policies setup by the at most a reasonable profit making organization and there
telecom regulatory. Apart from these all the service should be a policy to share the profits with the service
providers need to have NP gateway server capable of providers to lower their burden. Service providers can be
interacting with the central NPDB using the defined made stakeholders in the central NPDB, though the
application programming interface (API). The NP gateway regulatory body shall have the sole discretionary powers to
should, apart from maintaining an internal NPDB, control the NPDB.
provision the routing information to the respective
network elements. Apart from these, upgrading the VIII. NUMBER PORTABILITY IN
network adds to the cost. The service providers are INDIA
supposed to bear these costs. The setup costs includes: -
Central NPDB setup cost, Software development or The service providers are not keen on its
upgrade, Network upgrade, Customer Relationship introduction, as that would require substantial investment
Management (CRM) upgrade. Cost involved in upgrading in upgrades to the routing and the billing mechanisms.
the billing system. Service providers are already operating with very low
margins; they feel that instead of spending more money on
B. Np Maintenance Costs upgrading, the existing resources could be utilized for
providing better voice quality and services. The details are
Once the NP system is deployed, there are many given in the table 1.
other costs involved in maintenance of the system. The
5
Table 1 Approximate Implementation Cost REFERENCES

[1] Yi-Bing Lin, “Mobile Number Portability”, IEEE
MNP Implementation Estimates – All Call Query – Network
Model
Using Using SS7 / IP [2] Young Sic Jeong, Whan Woo Kim, “The
SS7 via Sigtran Realization of Mobile Number Portability in
Total Cost for set up $208.6 Korea”, IEEE –Network
$182.97 Mil
pan-India Mil
CO Upgrades [3] Rajeev Ranjan Kumar, Amrita Singh, A.
Switch Upgrades Damodaram, “Phone Number Portability in GSM
Switch software $175 networks”, CSI Vol. 32, Issue-7, Oct.2008.
$156.4 Mil
upgrades Mil
Additional Signaling [4] Telecommunication N/W Management – Haojin
circuits Wang
Software Costs
Order Management [5] http://www.mobilein.com/MNP.htm
Sys Upgrade $22.5
$22.5 Mil [6] http://previewcareers.aricent.com/in/whitepapers/
Provisioning and Mil
Billing mobile-services/mnp.pdf
Database Upgrades
[7] http://www.stockmarketsreview.com/news/mobile
$10.4
SCP / STP costs $4 Mil _number portability_in_india_20090626/
Mil
Total cost set-up pan-
938.7 823.4
India Rs. Cr.
IX. CONCLUSION
To implement number portability, the best
solution is to implement the centralized system, maintain a
common number porting database, and use the All Call
Query (ACQ) call routing scheme to route the calls to a
ported number. A trusted 3rd party, which typically
reports to the telecom regulatory authority, can maintain
the centralized number porting database. The number
portability gives freedom to subscriber to choose best
service provider. Also service provider has to be
competitive to attract the customer. This will encourage
competition among the service providers, and in turn will
reduce the tariff. From subscribers point of view it reduces
cost, time and money. From service providers point of
view specific network maintenance activities need to be
done to ensure proper operation of the number portability
service over time.

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Volume 2 Special Issue ISSN 2079-8407

Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences

©2010-11 CIS Journal. All rights reserved.