Extension Granted For Number Portability

The Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining has granted a 21-day extension to telephony service providers to have their infrastructure up and running to facilitate the roll-out of number portability on Monday, June 22.

At a meeting at the Ministry on May 29, involving stakeholder partners, the Minister, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, was requested to grant the extension as testing was not completed by some providers. The original date was set for June 1.

Number portability will allow Jamaicans to move from one service provider to another, while retaining their original telephone number.

“With the new system …that number is yours. It allows consumers to be in control of the number and gives the consumer power over the provider,” the Minister said at a recent function.

Telephony service providers had given their full commitment to the initiative at a media and stakeholder workshop on May 13. However, since then one of the three major providers, which was conducting testing at the time, has indicated that its infrastructure was too large and therefore needed the extra time to complete testing.

Mr. Paulwell, who delivered the keynote address at the workshop, said he was delighted with the active collaboration of the stakeholders.

“Their role will improve the management and co-ordination of all activities relating to the central database and the central order handling system, which are the key components in supporting number portability,” he noted.