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Number portability anniversary more than 3.3 million numbers ported in 8 years

20.10.2016

 

“Number portability is one of the Authority’s most successful projects, and this was obvious ever since the service launch in 2008, which marked the onset of a steadily growing trend in the number of those who chose to benefit from this service. In these eight years, more than 3.3 million telephone numbers switched networks, but not their users. Thus, the users could benefit from the best offers for their needs, and could avail themselves of a negotiation tool in relationship with their providers, who – in turn – promoted ever more competitive offers”, declared Cătălin Marinescu, ANCOM’s president.

8 years of portability

From 21 October 2008, when this service was launched, until mid-October 2016, 3,314,726 numbers were ported, 2,679,104 of which are mobile telephony numbers and 635,622 are fixed telephony numbers.

More and more Romanians chose to switch operators while keeping their numbers, every year: while, in 2008, 15,681 numbers were ported, in 2009 – 180,239 numbers, in 2010 – 221,219, in 2011 – 260,256, in 2012 – 255,893, and in 2013 - 274,137 numbers, 2014 and 2015 saw significant growth, with 564,648 and respectively 844,477 ported numbers. Since the beginning of 2016, 698,176 telephone numbers have been ported.

Recipient providers

On the mobile telephony segment, RCS&RDS is the provider that received the largest amount of ported numbers (870,768), followed by Vodafone (685.989 numbers), Orange (637,444 numbers), Telekom Romania Mobile Communications (445,103 numbers) and Telekom Romania Communications (38,993 numbers).

The Romanian users’ migration trend is similar in the fixed telephony segment: RCS&RDS is on top, with 171,036 ported numbers, followed by Vodafone with 149,649 numbers, UPC with 132,715 numbers, Orange with 123,971 numbers and Telekom Romania Communications with 24,961 fixed telephony numbers received from other networks, through porting.

Most requests for porting fixed telephony numbers were registered in Bucharest and in the county of Ilfov (191,827), followed by Cluj (36,382), Timiş (31,288), Prahova (28,842) and Galaţi (24,527).

Numbers ported in 2016

Between 1 January  and mid-October 2016, 698,176 telephone numbers have been ported, of which - 651,570 mobile telephony numbers and 46,606 fixed telephony numbers. The average monthly amount of numbers ported this year was 73,282, most numbers per month being ported in January (79,024).

Approximately 51% of all the 651,570 numbers ported until the middle of October 2016 are subscription-based. 

2016 recipient providers

On the mobile telephony segment, in 2016, RCS&RDS is the operator that received the most ported numbers – 308,777, followed by Vodafone – 134,069 numbers, Orange – 140,253 numbers, Telekom Romania Mobile Communications – 50,194 numbers and Telekom Romania Communications – 18,250 ported numbers.

A similar situation features the segment of fixed telephony numbers. RCS&RDS received 16,731 telephone numbers, followed by Orange - 12,000 numbers, UPC – 8,549 numbers, Vodafone – 4,504 numbers and Telekom Romania Communications – 2,172 ported numbers.

Considering the geographic distribution of ported numbers, most fixed telephony numbers were ported in Bucharest (13,880 numbers), followed by the counties of Timiș (3,148 numbers), Dolj (2,475 numbers), Argeș (2,367 numbers) and Cluj (2,171 numbers).

Complaints and petitions

In 2016, ANCOM received 163 petitions from the users complaining on the porting process, most issues complained about concerning certain problems occurred during the porting process, such as postponed porting deadlines or unsynchronised information on user identification. Most of the users addressing ANCOM requested additional information on the stage of the porting process.

Informing the users

For information ANCOM makes available www.portabilitate.ro, where the users can find the network of any telephone number in Romania, including of ported ones. The website offers details on the steps to be taken in order to port a telephone number, answers to frequently asked questions during the porting process, as well as advice for avoiding various problems that may occur in this process. If you want to make sure that you pick the best offer from all the available when you intend to change your service provider, you can access www.veritel.ro, the telephony and internet tariff comparison tool managed by the Authority.