Uruguay’s Regulatory Unit of Communications Services (Unidad Reguladora de Servicios de Comunicaciones, URSEC) has revealed that a total of 22,725 mobile phone numbers were successfully transferred to another network provider in the three months since the launch of mobile number portability (MNP) at the start of this year.
State-owned Antel saw 9,594 numbers ported to and 8,556 from its network by 31 March 2022 (a net gain of 1,038 subscriptions), while 5,643 numbers were transferred to and 5,732 from the network of Claro (a net loss of 89) and 7,488 subscriptions were ported to and 8,437 from the network of Movistar (a net loss of 949).
As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, the launch of MNP officially took place on 12 January, enabling the country’s cellular customers to retain their number if they switch provider. Mobile operators bear the cost of the number transfer process, which should take no more than three business days to complete. Users will be able to port their number between companies a maximum of three times per year. The Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining said the launch of MNP will encourage competition between mobile operators Antel, Movistar and Claro, and will promote the rights of consumers.