OTTAWA – Canada’s wireless telephony industry is now aiming for September 2007 as the month when we’ll see wireless number portability in Canada.
Despite the inability of wireless numbers to be taken from carrier to carrier surely keeps a lid on churn, this is something consumers and government has been pushing for.
So in June, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association commissioned an independent report on the subject from PricewaterhouseCoopers, the results of which were made public today.
The 64-page report examines the hundreds of technical, inter-carrier and regulatory tasks and issues that need to be addressed in order for telecommunications companies to offer number portability. After a full review of the report by the CWTA’s WNP Task Force, the group has identified mid-2007 as the timeframe for a pilot trial to begin testing WNP in a limited area.
WNP, which will enable customers to transfer phone numbers between wireless service providers and also between landline and wireless service, is set to be available on a national basis in September 2007, says the association. Specifically, September 12, 2007 (thus explaining the release today).
“Unlike the ‘phased-in’ approach adopted by some other jurisdictions where WNP was introduced in different geographic areas over an extended period of time, WNP in Canada will become available to the vast majority of consumers and enterprise customers from coast to coast at the same time,” says the release.
“The WNP Task Force believes this is a significant implementation strategy that will offer an equitable, smooth and reliable introduction of the new service for all Canadians.”
“Canada will be only the third country in the world to offer complete wireless-to-wireless, wireless-to-wireline and wireline-to-wireless portability," said Peter Barnes, CWTA President & CEO. "The implementation timeline we are announcing today is aggressive given the complexities of introducing WNP, but Canada’s wireless industry is confident in its ability to deliver this new service to Canadians."
The full report is available at www.cwta.ca/CWTASite/english/CWTA_WNP_Project_Plan_Report.pdf
As for Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Mobile, which operates off the Bell Mobility network here in Canada, WNP in 2007 is too far away.
"Consumers are losing out by not being offered the option of permanently owning their mobile phone numbers. It’s obvious that the big carriers are dragging their heels on giving customers the freedom they deserve because it works to their advantage – it helps to keep their customers locked in with one carrier,” he said in a statement, after the CWTA release
To support the company’s position on number portability, Branson has written an open letter that will appear in Canada’s national media on Wednesday, September 14, 2005. The letter will encourage Canadian mobile customers to email: mynumberismobile@virginmobile.ca with their views on number portability and their desire to speed up the implementation process.
Virgin Mobile says that up to 30% of wireless users say they’d be willing to switch carriers if they can take their phone numbers with them, according to its research. That is “clearly indicative of a high level of dissatisfaction that Canadian consumers feel about not being able to freely transfer their mobile number if they leave their incumbent carrier,” says the Virgin release.
Virgin Mobile supports Industry Canada’s request for an ‘expeditious’ implementation of WNP and challenges the industry to follow through with a consumer-friendly plan that includes:
* Availability of number portability for Canadian consumers as soon as 2006;
* A hassle-free and positive customer "transfer" experience that takes less than 4 hours;
* A guaranteed no penalty fee structure to customers for choosing to switch.
"Virgin Mobile will continue to stand up for Canadians on this issue. As Canada’s newest mobile provider and an international brand we have seen how consumers in other markets have benefited with better service and better value once number portability is introduced. We have also seen how not offering it to customers can restrict competition and that means that mobile customers are worse off,” added Andrew Black, president and CEO of Virgin Mobile Canada.
