Mobile Number Portability is now available in the Philippines
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According to a consortium formed by the Philippines’ three major telecommunications firms, mobile phone users will be able to keep their phone numbers when switching carriers starting on September 30. The law allowing for the portability of mobile phone numbers goes into effect on Thursday.
“We wish to announce to the Filipino people that as of today, Sept. 30, the core services of mobile number portability are now ready,” TCI general manager Melanie Manuel said.
“We do expect to experience some inconveniences as we start offering the service, but we are confident that with the continued cooperation and hard work of our three partner telcos, we can say that finally, forever is here,” TCI general manager Melanie Manuel said.
Mobile Number Portability is now available in the Philippines, said TCI, the group formed by DITO, Globe and Smart for the implementation of the law. pic.twitter.com/wr8dKJZBb1
— Jessica Fenol (@JessFenol) September 30, 2021
What is Mobile Number Portability (MNP)?
The Mobile Number Portability is a law that was proposed by Senator Sherwin Gatchallan. Senator Gatchalian sponsored the bill in the Senate entitled “Lifetime Cellphone Number Act (Senate Bill No. 1636).”
The bill which will be called Mobile Number Portability Act (Republic Act No. 11202) was approved to become law in February 2019 by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Fast forward to today, the full implementation of the law started September 30, 2021, as confirmed by TCI or Telecommunications Connectivity Inc. (TCI), a joint venture company formed by DITO, Globe, and Smart to fully implement the law.
What are the benefits of Mobile Number Portability?
- Keep your existing number when switching from one telco to another.
- Switching from one telco to another is FREE.
- You can keep transferring to any other telco or services – i.e. Postpaid to Prepaid, Smart to TNT, etc within 60 days.
Examples of applying the MNP
- Globe Prepaid to Smart Prepaid
- Globe Postpaid to Smart Postpaid
- DITO Prepaid to Smart Prepaid
- Smart Prepaid or TNT to Smart Postpaid
- Smart Postpaid to Smart Prepaid or TNT
Mobile Number Portability: Smart
If you wish to transfer your mobile number from either Globe, DITO, or any other telco to Smart. Here are the things that you need to do:
- You need to get your USC (Unique Subscriber Code) from your current telco. To get your USC from Globe, text USC to 5050 using your existing mobile number. Your Globe USC is a 9-digit code.
- You need a copy of one government-issued ID.
- Proof of Mobile Ownership. If you are a postpaid subscriber, the recent bill should be accepted. For prepaid users, you need either the SIM Bed or the SIM card’s Official Receipt where you bought it.
Mobile Number Portability: Globe
Globe has a list of requirements if you want to port your number but the requirement is almost the same.
- USC
- Government-issued ID
- Proof of ownership
Mobile Number Portability: Dito
For Dito, we don’t have enough information yet. But I am sure that it will be just the same as the other telco mentioned above.
Internal Porting
Internal Porting is when you switch from one service to another within the same network. An example is Smart Postpaid to Smart Prepaid. Globe Prepaid to Globe Postpaid, etc.
One final note that you should not forget is when porting your mobile number, there should be no unpaid bills; your number should be registered under your name; and, your number should be active during your request.
