Mobile Number Portability (MNP), the ability to keep the same mobile telephone number when switching to a different network, is expected to get faster.
Ofcom says it wants the MNP process to take no more than one working day – twice as fast as the current two-day timeframe. In addition, the porting authorisation code (PAC) that allows the customer to move should either be issued immediately over the phone or by an SMS text message within two hours.
Final details will be announced by the summer, with implementation of the new process expected around six months later… which means we're likely to have faster porting by the end of 2010.
The requirement to port numbers within one day is also part of a recent EU ruling that'll come into force next May.
[Ofcom document (pdf)]