Technology Minister Grants Number Portability Administrator Service Provider Licence

Minister with responsibility for Technology, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, on Thursday March 12, 2015 granted a Number Portability Administrator licence to Porting Access B.V. of the Netherlands.

The licence will take effect on March 16 2015 and is for a period of 10 years.

The licence has been granted for the company to establish operate, manage, coordinate and maintain a number portability central reference database and an automated central order handling system and related activities for the provision of number portability.

The granting of the licence culminates a series of activities which included the Gazetting of the Telecommunications Act (Number Portability) Rules 2014 on September 25, 2014 which empowered the Minister to grant a licence to a third party to be the Number Portability Administrator.

Emphasizing the importance of number portability for both mobile and fixed line services, Minister Paulwell stated that the facility can be advantageous to the Jamaican consumer in many ways. “It will allow Jamaicans to move from one service provider to another while retaining their telephone numbers which is considered an important point of reference and accessible point of contact. Importantly also, studies indicate that the introduction of number portability facilitates greater competition in the telecoms market which can ultimately resulting in lower prices and more innovative products and services. Number portability can also eliminate some of the costs, inordinate delays and inconvenience that businesses and individuals encounter when changing from one telecoms provider to another”.