OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Wireless phone number portability will come to Canada six months sooner than the major wireless carriers said they could make it happen.
In a decision released late this afternoon, the CRTC is requiring Canadian wireless telephone companies to implement wireless number portability (WNP) by March 14, 2007, in most of Canada. Today’s decision follows a public notice issued on September 16, 2005, in which the Commission invited comments on several issues related to the implementation of WNP.
The decision will see Canadians be able to take their phone numbers with them, no matter for which wired or wireless carrier they may swap their service.
Earlier this fall, as reported by www.cartt.ca, Rogers Wireless, Bell Mobility, Telus Mobility and others, said that the soonest they could do it is September of 2007.
However, many think it could certainly be accomplished sooner, as WNP is already in place in many other jurisdictions around the world. However, not being able to take your mobile number with you from carrier to carrier is a serious churn-capper and the big Canadian wireless players have been accused of delaying WNP because of that. Virgin Mobile head Sir Richard Branson has been front-and-centre in that battle.
The fall of ’07 is not good enough, said the CRTC today. "This decision establishes the earliest feasible date for wireless number portability consistent with a smooth and reliable transition for wireless customers," says Charles Dalfen, chairman of the CRTC. "Consumers should be given the widest possible choice of service providers and should be able to switch telephone companies without unwarranted cost or inconvenience."
By March 14, 2007 the big three will be required to provide WNP to their customers in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Québec. This means that customers in any of these provinces will be able to switch to any service provider in that province (wireline or wireless) and keep their phone number.
Throughout Canada, all wireless carriers will, by the same date, be required to release a phone number to another carrier (port-out customers) and by no later than September 12, 2007, to accept a phone number from another carrier (port-in customers).
Virgin Canada responded today saying the industry has to now work together so that the customer is educated when WNP is implemented. It also warned against signing long contracts with existing providers which would carry customers past the WNP rollout.
“The company is demanding that Canada’s incumbent wireless service providers assure Canadians they will be informed of all the facts before they make a decision about whether to sign a long-term mobile phone contract,” says the Virgin release.
"We’re not pleased with the deadline of early 2007 for implementation of number portability set out in the CRTC’s decision as we firmly believe it can and should happen next year,” said Branson. “We do, however, applaud that the CRTC has stepped in and pushed the industry to a faster implementation of this critical initiative that has so many obvious benefits to Canadian consumers. Now Canadians need to be aware that the privilege of owning their mobile number is over a year away and they should consider all the options before committing to long-term contracts."
“While WNP will remove a significant barrier to changing wireless service providers, consumers should bear in mind that handsets may not function on different wireless carriers networks due to different network technologies; customers may have binding long term service contracts with early termination fees; long distance services may not be transferable from one carrier to another; and not all the services that a customer has with one service provider will be supported or provided by another service provider,” warns the Commission’s release.
In the February budget of 2005, the Government of Canada requested the Commission move expeditiously to implement WNP. In a 2005 Decima survey conducted for the CRTC 70% of wireless consumers surveyed indicated that keeping their telephone number when changing wireless service providers was important. Comments from individuals during the Commission’s proceeding were unanimously in favour of WNP and asked that it be implemented as soon as possible.
