ECTEL accelerates plans to implement number portability

Regional regulator Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) is planning to step up the implementation of number portability (NP) across all ECTEL member states – Grenada, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Saint Lucia and Dominica. The agency has announced that a workshop will take place this week with the aim of launching mobile number portability (MNP) across the member states before the end of 2016, followed by fixed number portability (FNP) soon after. ECTEL notes that the workshop marks the official commencement of work to introduce NP in the region, which is expected to increase competition in the telecoms industry and give more power to consumers of telecommunications services. NP has already been launched in The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Martinique & Guadeloupe, and plans are also underway to launch it in Trinidad & Tobago, Haiti and Barbados.