PTA extends support to Sri Lanka for mobile number portability

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has extended training and technical support to the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka for successful implementation of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in the country.

As reported by Dawn, the Sri Lankan regulator has planned to introduce MNP for mobile phone users in the country and intends to follow processes adopted by the PTA.

Pakistan is the first country in South Asia to have introduced this facility for its mobile phone users in 2007.

The MNP is a service through which a mobile phone user can change his network without changing the number.

The MNP has put pressure on mobile phone operators in Pakistan to improve their service and encouraged the companies to improve the quality of service.

At the same time the key technical challenge to the MNP is to ensure smooth transfer calls.

Last month, the PTA launched an innovative automated system termed as the ‘Lost & Stolen Device System’ (LDS) which primarily blocks mobile phones which have been lost, stolen, and snatched.

Primarily through this new system if a phone is lost or stolen users can report to the respective authorities and the stolen phone will be blocked within 24 hours after the necessary verification. This system is integrated with the PTA’s Device Identification, Registration, and Blocking System (DIRBS).