The much anticipated mobile phone number portability will likely become a reality
in Antigua and Barbuda in just under nine months.
That is the word from Utilities Minister Melford Nicholas. who reported that two
members of the team from APUA gave the Cabinet an update on implementing this
policy initiative, long being projected by the government. Mobile phone number
portability enables consumers to keep their phone numbers after they switch to
another service carrier.
The minister reported that the move towards achieving this objective received a
boost when the government engaged a firm to serve as a consultant on
implementing the plan. He said the company provided similar services to other
Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authorities as well as in Barbados and
other Caribbean territories. The firm was hired last July.
According to Minister Nicholas, the company indicated at the onset that it needed
at least an eighteen-month window by which the process would have to be
observed, get all the operators in the ‘same place to understand the business rules,’
and ensure that there can be predictable and well-documented approaches to how
this process would work.
“The team gave Cabinet an update as to where they are, noting that there are still
some technology adaptations that have to be done,” he revealed. For example, he
noted that Inet’s service providers gave a timeline of the end of September, to
make changes to their network. After that, we should be in the training and testing
modes,” he further revealed.
Minister Nicholas said the APUA team is predicting that by the end of the first
quarter of 2024, ‘we should be in a position to implement mobile phone number
portability.’
He said he and the Cabinet have asked the team to work assiduously to make the
timeline sooner if possible. The minister also said he will monitor the situation
closely to see if this can happen sooner than the technicians have indicated.
