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about 4 years after the USA and EU.. and about 7-8 years after Asia..
better late than never .. but again a clear example of the CRTC's slowness at moving forward in such matters..
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CRTC speeds up `portable' numbers
Phone decision considered modest win for consumers
Coming 6 months sooner than industry proposed
Dec. 21, 2005. 06:44 AM
TYLER HAMILTON
TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
Ontario cellphone subscribers itching for the ability to keep their phone number when switching service providers will now only have to wait 15 months, about half a year less than the wireless industry had first proposed.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission issued a decision yesterday requiring the country's major mobile-phone operators to introduce wireless number portability, or WNP, to customers in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta by March 14, 2007.
CRTC chairman Charles Dalfen said in a statement that the decision establishes the "earliest feasible date" for introducing number portability in a smooth and reliable fashion.
A voluntary plan revealed in September by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association committed Bell Mobility, Rogers Wireless and Telus Mobility to introducing portability on a national basis sometime in September 2007.
"We felt September was going to be a tough date, but March is going to be a little tougher," said Peter Barnes, chief executive officer of the wireless association.
Proponents of portability are calling the decision a modest win for consumers, who have been denied the service despite its availability in the United States and Europe.
"It's certainly a good compromise in the sense of landing somewhere in the middle," said John Lawford, a research analyst with the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottawa.
Lawford said the more important part of the decision is that the regulator is setting a mandate, rather than letting the industry proceed on voluntary promises.
"At this stage we're just happy (the wireless operators) are being told to do it," Lawford said.
Virgin Mobile Canada, which has been lobbying hard for portability, applauded the regulator for stepping in but criticized it for not being aggressive enough with its mandate.
"We firmly believe it can and should happen next year," Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin group of companies, said in a statement. He urged Canadian wireless consumers to be cautious about signing long-term contracts that would limit their freedom to switch service providers by imposing costly termination fees.
The regulator issued an even broader warning, pointing out that those who take advantage of portability to switch service providers may find their mobile phone isn't compatible with a different wireless network, long-distance services might not be transferable, and some mobile-phone features may not be supported.
Similar to the industry's proposal, the CRTC's directive calls for number portability between wireless and wireline carriers, meaning a customer can switch their landline phone from Bell Canada to a wireless phone from Rogers and still keep the same phone number.
Both Bell and Rogers said meeting the regulator's accelerated schedule leaves less time for testing the service.
"In cutting off six months, all the testing and pilots were removed, and that's certainly a concern of ours," said Dawn Hunt, vice-president of government relations at Rogers Wireless.
Hunt called the CRTC's decision "very fair" for striking a reasonable balance between consumer needs and industry challenges. She said the mandate is welcome because it clarifies the rules and forces the wireline companies to co-operate with the wireless companies.
Number portability was required in both the U.S. and the European Union in 2003, and was offered in Hong Kong and Singapore during the late 1990s. Without the service, customers and businesses must go through the inconvenience, disruption and cost of switching numbers when changing service providers.
The lack of portability in Canada became a political hot potato in February when unprecedented wording in the federal budget urged the regulator to "move expeditiously" on the issue. Industry Minister David Emerson later urged the industry to implement it in a "timely manner."
"The carriers' won with this one," said Eamon Hoey, a telecom consultant in Toronto, arguing that the CRTC should have dealt with this issue years ago.
"It points out the weakness of our regulator."
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source:
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...72154&t=TS_Home
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Palm Trees > Pine Trees , Sand > Snow
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