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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
THE National Telecommunications
Commission (NTC) said the plan to allow cell phone users to retain
their numbers even if they shift to separate network providers may
no longer push through, citing the huge expense involved.
Edgardo Cabarrios, NTC chief for
common carriers authorization, told reporters that the number
portability is too costly on the part of the subscribers based on
the recommendation of the agency’s technical working group.
”It’s technically feasible,
but not financially viable,” he said.
Under the proposed number
portability plan, a subscriber no longer has to buy a new SIM
(subscriber identification module) card if he or she switches to a
different service provider while retaining his or her existing
mobile phone number.
Number portability has been
available in many countries since the late 1990s, with the scheme
implemented most recently in Japan.
Legislators earlier filed House
Bills 1098 and 3088 providing and promoting number portability for
mobile phone service and mandating service providers to give their
subscribers the option to retain their numbers.
As of June, the number of mobile
phone subscribers stood at more than 61.9 million. Of this,
Smart Communications Inc. and Pilipino Telephone Corp. (Piltel) have
combined subscribers of 33.2 million, Globe Telecom Inc. another
22.7 million, and Sun Cellular another six million.
Cabarrios earlier projected
that the number of mobile phone users in the second half would grow
between four and five million.
“For the full year, it’s
likely to hit 65 million,” he said.
Cabarrios said that while the
number of subscribers is growing, the average revenue per user (ARPU)
is declining owing to inflation.
In the first half of the year,
Globe reported that its ARPU declined by 24 percent to P214 from
P280 in the same period last year. Smart’s ARPU also dropped by 16
percent to P220.
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