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Implementation, Challenges and Solutions

Mobile Number Portability

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2008 Aricent, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, including photocopying, reprinting or recording, for any purpose, without the express written permission of Aricent.

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CONTENTS

1. Introduction 2. Types of Number Portability 3. Service Provider Number Portability Schemes 3.1 All Call Query (ACQ) 3.2 Query on Release (QoR) 3.3 Call Dropback 3.4 Onward Routing (OR) 4. Comparisons of the Number Portability Schemes 5. Versions in ACQ scheme 6. Implementation 6.1 Number Porting Process: Procedure and Considerations 6.2 Call Routing 7. Typical Flow of Porting Data 8. Factors Influencing Success of Number Portability 9. Challenges of implementing number portability 9.1 Number Portability Setup Costs 9.2 NP maintenance costs 9.3 Call routing costs 10. Solution 11. Conclusion

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1. INTRODUCTION Mobile Number portability (MNP) enables mobile subscribers to change their service providers or their location without having to change their existing phone numbers. If the subscribers are not satisfied with the services of their service provider, they can change their service provider while retaining the existing phone number. This infuses competition among service providers and forces them to improve their service standards to check subscriber churn. Many countries have made number portability mandatory to liberalize competition. Many others are in the process of implementing it. A significant technical aspect of implementing number portability is related to the routing of calls or mobile messages (SMS, MMS) to a number once it is ported to some other network. This paper discusses: . types of number portability . various call routing schemes for service provider number portability . comparisons among various routing schemes . challenges of implementing number portability . best solution in terms of complexity of implementation, use of network resources, and scalability Before we discuss the technical aspects and various call routing schemes in detail, let us understand some terms in the context of mobile network and number portability. . 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 subscribers 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 and various other activities. 3.1 ALL CALL QUERY (ACQ) 2. TYPES OF NUMBER PORTABILITY The various types of number portability are: . Service Provider Number Portability: Subscribers can change the service provider while retaining the same phone number. It is also called operator portability . Location Number Portability: Subscribers can change their service location while keeping the same telephone number . Service Portability: Subscribers can change the subscribed services while retaining the same telephone number. Service portability allows the subscribers to enjoy the subscribed services in the same way when they roam outside their home networks 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.
Originating Network 3 Recipient Network NP Database 1 2 Donor Network

. Call Dropback . Onward Routing (OR)

. The Originating Network receives a call from the caller and sends a query to a centrally administered Number Portability Database (NPDB) also called central database (CDB) . Network operators generally keep local copies of the CDB, which is hosted on either a network element within their network or a third party network element . The NPDB returns the routing information of the dialed number . The Originating Network uses the routing information to route the call to the new serving network

3. SERVICE PROVIDER NUMBER PORTABILITY CALL ROUTING SCHEMES The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has defined four flavors of call routing that support number portability. These schemes are: . All Call Query (ACQ) . Query on Release (QoR)
Illustration1: All-Call-Query Scheme

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3.2 QUERY ON RELEASE (QoR) . The Originating Network receives a call from the caller and routes the call to the donor network . The donor network releases the call and indicates that the dialed number has been ported out of that network . The Originating Network sends a query to its copy of the centrally administered NPDB . The NPDB returns the routing information of the dialed number . The Originating Network uses the routing information to route the call to the new serving network
2 1

3.4 ONWARD ROUTING (OR) . The Originating Network receives a call from the caller and routes the call to the donor network . The donor network detects that the dialed directory number has been ported out of the donor switch and checks with an internal network-specific NPDB . The internal NPDB returns the routing number associated with the dialed directory number . The donor network uses the routing number to route the call to the new serving network . This method of routing calls is also known as Call Forwarding

NP Database 3 4

Donor Network
Central NP Database Donor Network 1 4

2 3

Internal NP Database

Originating Network

Recipient Network

Originating Network

Recipient Network

Illustration4: Onward Routing Scheme Illustration2: Query-On-Release Scheme

3.3 CALL DROPBACK This scheme is also known as Return to Pivot (RTP). The call steps are as follows. . The Originating Network receives a call from the caller and routes the call to the donor network . The donor network detects that the dialed directory number has been ported out of the donor switch and checks with an internal network-specific NPDB . The internal NPDB returns the routing number associated with the dialed directory number . The donor network releases the call by providing the routing number . The Originating Network uses the routing number to route the call to the new serving network
Central NP Database 4 1 2 3 Internal NP Database

4. COMPARISONS OF THE NUMBER PORTABILITY SCHEMES 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 signaling circuits

Donor Network

Originating Network

are set up between the originating network and the donor network
Recipient Network

when the originating network sets up the call towards the donor network. This complexity increases the signaling between the networks and hence the cost of the call to a ported number increases.

Illustration3: Call Dropback Scheme

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5. VERSIONS IN ACQ SCHEME There are two possible versions of ACQ scheme. In the first one, the originating network always queries the NPDB when a call is received from the caller regardless of whether the dialed number belongs to any number range that is portable or has at least one number ported out. Number range covers a contiguous range of numbers within that range. Once a number within a particular range has ported away from the donor network, all numbers in that range are considered potentially ported. The other version is to check whether the dialed number belongs to any number range that is portable or has at least one number ported out. If yes, an NPDB query is sent. If not, no NPDB query is sent. The former performs best when there are many portable number ranges. The latter performs best when there are not too many portable number ranges. The latter ACQ scheme is similar to the QoR scheme, except that the QoR scheme uses call setup and relies on the donor network to indicate number ported out before initiating the NPDB query.
Illustration5: Peer-to-Peer Approach

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.
Service Provider 1 Service Provider 2

Service Provider 5 Service Provider 3

Service Provider 4

6.1.2 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 centralized NP administration center for processing the porting request of a number. This adheres to a clear set of service level agreements for each of the steps involved in the process and it is mandatory for the service providers to follow them. Any porting request from any of the service providers is sent to the NP administration center first, to which all the service providers number portability solutions are integrated with. A request that comes from the new SP to the NP administration center is sent to the present serving SP for clearance and once this is done the central NP administration center broadcasts the porting information to all the service providers in the country. As specified above, the porting request can be initiated by either of the current serving SP or the new SP (recipient). This is decided by the regulatory body of the country.
Central number portability administration center and database

6. IMPLEMENTATION There are two fundamental issues that need to be considered in implementing number portability in a country. . Number Porting Process: This applies to the policies and processes for porting the numbers . Call Routing: This applies to the scheme of routing a call to a ported number. 6.1 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. . Peer-to-Peer approach . Centralized approach 6.1.1 Peer-to-Peer approach 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

SOAP/CORBA/XML/Q.3

Service Provider Gateway

Service Provider Gateway

Service Provider Gateway

Local NPDB Service Provider 1

Local NPDB Service Provider 2

Local NPDB Service Provider n

Illustration6: Centralized Approach

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The centralized approach is the most preferred solution and is widely used across the globe. This is a highly scalable implementation. 6.2 CALL ROUTING As discussed earlier, All Call Query (ACQ) 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
HLR

Central number portability administration center and database

Service Provider Domain

SOAP/CORBA/XML/Q.3

Local Service Provider NP Gateway Provisioning to the respective network element

Local NPDB

Billing System

Customer relationship management

Other network elements

Illustration8: Flow of porting data

8. FACTORS INFLUENCING THE SUCCESS OF NUMBER PORTABILITY . Subscriber Awareness: Subscribers needs to be aware of

7. TYPICAL FLOW OF PORTING DATA The porting request once given by the subscriber to the service provider (new or current serving SP) is forwarded to the central clearing administrator. The actual porting process starts from the central clearing administrator.

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 rules that the regulator may impose. For example, a number cant be ported in the first 6 months of the subscription. Such forced conditions hamper the success of NP . Speed: Speed is one of the major factors that affect the success of NP. Service level agreements should be stringent enough to minimize the time taken to port the number to other network. This increases the level of customer satisfaction
France Portugal Countries Spain Finland Belgium Australia USA 1 1 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 2 5 5 20 30

Illustration7: Typical Business Flow

The administrator clears the number based on the policies and processes agreed upon by both the service providers (donor and recipient), the number is marked as ported and the administrator or the central clearing house broadcasts the complete information to all the service providers in the country or as registered with the central clearing authority.
.

No. of days

Illustration9: Porting time (days) in various countries

Cost factor: NP success also depends on the 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 need to pay to port their number to some other service providers network. This all depends on the regulatory authority that decides who bears the cost of porting. For better success and market competition, it is recommended that the new service provider, who is getting the subscriber, bear the cost of porting.

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9.3 CALL ROUTING COSTS . Handset subsidies and fixed-term agreements : NP has been a great success in the countries like Finland where there are no subsidies on mobile handsets. Subsidies given by the service providers leads to fixed term agreements and hence limits the option for the subscriber to switch to a different service provider. There can be other agreements, which can hinder the success of NP. Routing the call to a ported number is one of the major issues in NP. In case of ACQ, the originating network needs to make a query to the NP database irrespective of whether the called number is ported or not. Even the other schemes of NP implementation has their own impacts on the network signaling, database queries, and other network resources, which directly influence the network traffic adding on to the cost.

9. CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING NUMBER PORTABILITY The major challenges of implementing number portability are: . Cost involved in upgrading the network infrastructure to support number portability . Cost involved in maintaining the upgraded infrastructure . Cost involved in the usage of network resources to route the calls to the ported number 9.1 NUMBER PORTABILITY SETUP COSTS This is one of the major deterring factors for NP implementation in any country. There are many expenses involved in NP system setup. The setup costs include the cost of setting up the central NPDB, which maintains the complete information on the porting details, providing a well-defined interface for the service providers to interact with apart from adhering to the policies setup by the telecom regulatory. Apart from these all the service providers need to have NP gateway server capable of interacting with the central NPDB using the defined application programming interface (API). The NP gateway should, apart from maintaining an internal NPDB, provision the routing information to the respective network elements. Apart from these, upgrading the network adds to the cost. The service providers are supposed to bear these costs. The setup costs includes: . Central NPDB setup cost . Software development or upgrade . Network upgrade . Customer Relationship Management (CRM) upgrade . Cost involved in upgrading the billing system 9.2 NP MAINTENANCE COSTS Once the NP system is deployed, there are many other costs involved in maintenance of the system. The maintenance cost includes the following: . Cost for the agreed procedure involved in the porting process . Activating the ported number . Provisioning the routing information . Informing all the service providers of the ported number

10. SOLUTION Many countries have their own guidelines on how to share the costs incurred in NP implementation. Regulatory bodies can consider the following points in arriving at a better model for cost sharing to implement number portability. . Number of subscribers per service provider should be the base at the time of setting up the NP System . The service providers can incur the annual maintenance costs for using the service of the central NPDB. This can be for the services used such as NPDB system and customer help desk usage. These costs should be based on the usage of the central NPDB or based on the quality of service such as the bandwidth for accessing the central NPDB . Recipient service provider can pay for the costs incurred by the centralized NPDB for any subscriber that ports to its network . Recipient service provider can pay for the costs incurred by the donor for each ported number . The central NPDB should be a non-profitable or at most a reasonable profit making organization and there should be a policy to share the profits with the service providers to lower their burden. . Service providers can be made stakeholders in the central NPDB, though the regulatory body shall have the sole discretionary powers to control the NPDB.

11. 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.

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