SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
Second Regular Session
)
t f i f f i r i  of fhf^V—
•17 nECl2 38 :30
SENATE BILL No. 
1638
(In Substitution of Senate Bill No. 1237)
!< F ' '
prQe.P^re,d and subm itted by the Committee on Economic Affairs, with Senator 
G atchahan as author thereof 
c>enator
AN ACT
REQUIRING PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENTITIES TO PRO V ID E 
NATIONWIDE MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY TO SU B SC R IB ER S
P h  T  Be lten^ cted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 
Philippines in Congress assem bled: 
^
SECTION. 1. S h o rt Title. -  This Act shall be known as the “Lifetime 
Cellphone Number Act. ”
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 
21 
22 
23
SEC. 2. D eclaratio n  o f Policy. -  It is the declared policy of the State to 
recognize the prim ary role of the private sector as engine of economic growth and 
guarantees the nght of individuals and private groups, including corporations, 
to own, establish and operate economic enterprises. Along with this recognition, 
the 1987 Constitution under its provisions on National Economy and Patrim ony 
states th at the use of property bears a social function where all economic agents 
shall contribute to the common good. The right of corporations to own, establish 
and operate economic enterprises is therefore subject to the duty of the State to 
intervene when the common good so dem ands -  including the duty to regulate 
the acquisition, ownership, use and disposition of private property through the
regulation or prohibition of monopolies and com binations in restraint of trade or 
unfair competition.
SEC. 3. G uiding P rin cip les f o r  Im p lem en tatio n . -  This Act declares the 
following as guiding principles:
a. 
The basic prem ise behind a nationwide mobile num ber portability system  
IS to promote competition between and am ong public telecom m unications 
entities by giving consum ers the freedom to choose and to respond to quality, 
Pnce and other relevant considerations w ithout changing their mobile num bers 
whenever they change service providers.


2
3
4
5
6
7
8 
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 
21 
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
1
b. 
In addition to prom oting consum er welfare, mobile num ber portability wiU
stim ulate public telecom m unications entities to provide consum ers with the best
overall value th at they can offer. It will also foster technological innovation th at
".II lead t0 eVen 8reat«  dem and for telecom m unications products and services 
and lead to a virtuous cycle of economic growth.
SEC. 4. D efinition o f Term s. -  As used in this Act:
a. 
Donor Provider refers to the public telecom m unications entity to whose
network the mobile num ber belongs a t the time the subscriber m akes an 
application for porting.
b. 
Mobile Number refers to the num ber series assigned by a public 
telecom m unications entity to its postpaid a n d /o r prepaid subscribers.
c. 
Mobile Number Portability or MNP refers to the ability of a postpaid 
subscriber who has no existing financial obligation to the Donor Provider arising 
from a subscription contract under a postpaid plan, or a prepaid subscriber, to 
either retain an existing mobile num ber when moving from one public 
telecom m unications entity to another, or to change subscription from postpaid 
to prepaid or from prepaid to postpaid, w ithout im pairm ent of the standards of 
quality, 
reliability 
or 
convenience 
prescribed 
by 
the 
National 
Telecom m unications Commission.
d. 
Mobile Postpaid Subscriber refers to any person, natural or juridical, who 
avails of the mobile telecom m unications service under a prior arrangem ent with 
a public telecom m unications entity. The subscriber is billed after the fact, 
according to the use of mobile services at the end of the m onthly billing cycle.
e. 
Mobile Prepaid Subscriber refers to any person, natural or juridical, who 
avails 
of 
the 
mobile 
telecom m unications 
service 
from 
a 
public 
telecom m unications entity by purchasing credit in advance of service use. The
purchased credit is used to pay for mobile phone services at the point the service 
is accessed or consum ed.
f. 
Porting Application refers to an application m ade by a mobile subscriber to 
the Recipient Provider to move a mobile num ber from the Donor Provider.
g. 
Porting Process refers to the process by which a subscriber moves a mobile 
num ber from a Donor Provider to a Recipient Provider. In no case shall the entire 
porting process take more than twenty-four (24) hours.
h. 
Public Telecommunications Entity or PTE refers to any duly enfranchised 
and authorized public telecom m unications entity th at offers voice, short


1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 
21 
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
m essaging system  (SMS or text), mobile data, value added services (VAS) or any 
other telecom m unications services to the public for a fee.
i. 
Recipient Provider refers to the public telecom m unications entity th at will 
be providing mobile telecom m unications service to the subscriber after porting.
j. 
Subscriber refers to any person, natural or juridical, who avails of the 
mobile telecom m unications service from a public telecom m unications entity.
SEC. 5. O bligation o f P ublic T elecom m unications E n titie s to Provide 
M obile N um ber P o rtab ility ; L im itation. -  It shall be the obligation of every PTE 
to provide nationwide MNP to all mobile subscribers, w hether postpaid or 
prepaid. In no case, under penalty of law as provided hereunder, shall the 
benefits of MNP to a mobile subscriber who has decided to either switch from 
one PTE to another, or to change subscription from postpaid to prepaid or from 
prepaid to postpaid, be delayed, withheld, refused or otherwise not delivered by 
more than twenty-four (24) hours from the time such mobile subscriber 
completes his or her porting application. Provided, that a subscriber shall be 
allowed to port the sam e num ber from one PTE to another only after the lapse of 
sixty (60) days from the completion of the last porting process.
SEC. 6. O bligation o f P ublic T elecom m unications E n titie s to S et Up 
a  M echanism  f o r  M obile N um ber P o rtab ility . -  Every PTE shall, within six (6) 
m onths from the prom ulgation of the im plem enting rules and regulations of this 
Act, set up a m echanism  for the purpose of im plem enting MNP. It shall 
interconnect directly or indirectly with the infrastructure, facilities, system s or 
equipm ent of other PTEs and not install network features, functions or 
capabilities th at will impede the im plem entation of a nationwide MNP system. It 
shall also provide subscribers sufficient and relevant information on MNP 
including, but not limited to, its features, the porting application requirem ents, 
and the porting process.
SEC. 7. O bligation o f th e  R ecip ien t Provider. -  The Recipient Provider 
shall complete the porting process within a period of twenty-four (24) hours from 
the time of receipt of the mobile num ber porting application from the subscriber. 
W ithin such 24-hour period, it m ust transm it the mobile num ber porting 
application to the Donor Provider for the purpose of clearing the mobile num ber 
for porting. Upon notification th at the mobile num ber has been cleared for


3
4
5
6
7
8 
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 
21 
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
1
2
porting, it shall immediately activate the subscriber’s ported num ber under its 
network.
SEC. 8. O bligation o f th e  D onor Provider. -  The Donor Provider shall, 
within the sam e 24-hour period provided under Section 7 of this Act, clear the 
mobile num ber for porting. It shall however continue to provide all subscribed 
telecom m unications services to the subscriber until the mobile num ber has been 
completely ported to the Recipient Provider. The porting process shall be deemed 
complete upon the subsequent activation of the mobile num ber under the 
network of the Recipient Provider.
If the mobile num ber sought to be ported has any pre-existing obligation 
arising from a subscription contract with the Donor Provider, such provider shall 
give the subscriber a period of not more than three (3) days from the time of 
receipt of the mobile num ber porting application to settle the outstanding 
obligation. Upon full paym ent, the Donor Provider shall immediately notify the 
Recipient Provider th at the mobile num ber is cleared for porting.
SEC. 9. C ost o f M obile N um ber P o rtab ility . -  Every PTE shall provide 
mobile num ber portability to subscribers completely free of charge.
SEC. 10. P riv acy  o f D ata. -  PTEs and other third party entities to whom 
mobile num bers, or other classes of personal information have been disclosed, 
shall m aintain the confidentiality of the information obtained, and shall not 
m onitor or disclose the contents of any usage transaction contained within the 
databases under its control, except to the extent necessary for the purpose of 
m aintaining compliance with the provisions of this Act and its im plementing 
rules and regulations.
The information gathered by PTEs and other third party entities under the 
provisions of this Act shall be subject to the provisions of Republic Act No. 10173,
otherwise known as the Data Privacy Act of 2012, and its im plem enting rules 
and regulations.
SEC. 11. P en alties. -  For every failure to comply with, or for every 
instance of violation of any provision of this Act, the PTE shall pay a fine of not 
less than One H undred T housand Pesos (P100,000.00) up to Three H undred 
T housand Pesos (P300,000.00) for the first offense, and a fine of not less than 
Four H undred T housand Pesos (P400,000.00) up to Six H undred Thousand


2
3
4
5
6
7
8 
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 
21 
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
1
Pesos (P600,000.00) for the second offense. In case of a subsequent offense, the 
penalty shall be a fine of not less than Seven H undred Thousand Pesos 
(P700,000.00) up to One Million Pesos (PI,000,000.00) and revocation of the 
PTE’s franchise to operate.
SEC. 12. Im plem enting R ules a n d  R eg u latio n s (IRR). -  Within ninety 
(90) days from the effectivity of this Act, the National Telecom m unications 
Commission, as the governm ent entity m andated to im plem ent nationwide MNP, 
shall coordinate with the D epartm ent of Information and Com m unications 
Technology, the National Privacy Commission, the Philippine Competition 
Commission, and other concerned agencies, and prom ulgate rules and 
regulations and other issuances as may be necessary to ensure the effective 
im plem entation of this Act.
W ithin six (6) m onths from the prom ulgation of the rules and regulations, 
the PTEs shall comply with the provisions of this Act and set up a m echanism  
for the purpose of im plem enting nationwide MNP.
The rules and regulations shall provide an expeditious framework to 
govern all relevant aspects of MNP including, but not limited to, the following 
factors: 1) the m ost appropriate, efficient and cost-effective porting schem e to be 
adopted; 2) the specific rights and obligations of mobile subscribers, the Donor 
and Recipient Providers, and other parties to the porting process; 3) the 
coordinated procedure to be followed by each party in processing a mobile 
num ber porting application, including the specific time limits given to every party 
to complete the required steps in the entire porting process which process shall, 
in no case, exceed twenty-four (24) hours; and, 4) the m easures to ensure the 
least am ount of disruption of service to the consum er when im plem enting mobile 
num ber portability.
SEC. 13. S e p a ra b ility  C lause. -  If any provision of this Act is held invalid 
or unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected thereby shall rem ain in full 
force and effect.
SEC. 14. R ep ealin g  C lause. — All laws, decrees, executive orders, 
proclam ations, rules and regulations, and issuances, or parts thereof which are 
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, are hereby repealed, am ended or 
modified accordingly.


2
3
4
5
1
SEC. 15. E ffectivity C lause. -  This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days
after its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) new spapers of 
general circulation.
Approved,