Fixed number portability

This publication has been discontinued on July 19, 2011.

Introduction

Fixed number portability

FNP enables customers to transfer their existing telephone number from one fixed access provider to another. It has been introduced by many regulators throughout the world to stimulate competition, as it was felt that not being able to keep ones number was a barrier to changing fixed access providers.

In the majority of cases, it will involve the transfer of a fixed geographic number within the same local area. Transfers of geographic numbers outside the local area are not possible due to the way in which numbers have been allocated.

The situation is different for non-geographic numbers such as freephone, local rate, national rate and premium numbers, as they are not location-dependent.

Key messages

• Fixed number portability (FNP) is gaining ground throughout the world
• Take-up rates vary widely from one country to another
• FNP is not the key driver for switching
• More of a threat in the business market than amongst consumers
• Still much less of a threat than mobile number portability (MNP)
• Value for money and service differentiation is key to defending against the effects of FNP
• FNP is a two-way street
• Using a centralised database solution will future-proof FNP
• The growth of VoIP will bring a whole set of new challenges to number portability

Background

• Methods used for implementation
• Figure 1 Onward routing
• Figure 2 Call drop back
• Figure 3 Query on release
• Figure 4 All call query
• Figure 5 Pros and cons for the various methods used in number portability
• Availability of FNP
• Figure 6 Introduction of FNP

Impact of FNP

• Limited information reveals wide variations in take-up
• Figure 7 FNP within the EU
• Take-up affected by various national factors
• FNP is not key driver for switching in the residential market
• A bigger threat in the business market

Implications for fixed operators

• Do not overestimate the threat
• Figure 8 Take-up of FNP vs. MNP (as % of lines)
• Value for money represents the main defence against FNP
• Sharing the costs fairly
• FNP is a two-way street
• Future challenges
  

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