The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) has finally indicated that both fixed and mobile number portability (FNP and MNP, respectively) are expected to be introduced in October 2021.
The service, which allows subscribers to transfer their existing mobile number between providers, has been under consideration in Sri Lanka since 2008, making the regulator’s announcement somewhat momentous. In August 2020, the TRCSL stated that it was implementing long-overdue “preliminary measures” that would lead to the introduction of MNP/FNP.
In January this year the TRCSL invited feedback from stakeholders on number portability via a public consultation. TeleGeography reports that all domestic operators surveyed expressed support for the service in principle, and that the conversation has now progressed to technical implementation.
TRCSL Director General Oshada Senanayake told local newspaper the Daily Mirror that it would implement MNP/FNP “in consultation with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, due to its success in implementing number portability in Pakistan.”
Noting that the policy “empowers the consumer to have the final say”, Senanayke expressed the government’s optimism that MNP/FNP would lead to a substantial increase in the quality of both voice and broadband services in Sri Lanka.