SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
]
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
]
F irst R egular Session 
]
SENATE 
S.B. No.
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Introduced by SEN. WIN GATCHALIAN
AN ACT
REQUIRING PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENTITIES TO PROVIDE 
NATIONWIDE MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY TO SUBSCRIBERS
EXPLANATORY NOTE
This legislation requires every Public Telecommunications Entity (PTE) 
to provide subscribers nationwide with Mobile Number Portability (MNP) to 
facilitate the easy movement of subscribers from one service provider to 
another without losing their existing mobile numbers. The ability to retain 
one’s existing mobile number even when switching to another service 
provider will not only benefit the consumer in terms of the unprecedented 
convenience of maintaining a “mobile identity”. It will spur competition and 
efficiency between and among PTEs who would have greater incentives to 
genuinely compete with each other, and to therefore provide the best value 
for their money. It will likewise encourage technological innovation, 
stimulate demand for telecommunications and boost economic growth1 - 
creating a win-win situation for consumers and PTEs alike.
1 See https://www.npac.cotn/number-portability/what-is-lnp. Last visited on October 28, 
2016.


To be sure, the benefits of MNP to the telecommunications industry as 
a whole have long been recognized by various other countries, including the 
following:
MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY IN OTHER COUNTRIES2
YEAR
COUNTRY
1995
Singapore
1999
Hong Kong; Netherlands; United Kingdom
2000
Spain; Switzerland
2001
Denmark; Norway; Sweden; Macau
2002
Australia; Belgium; Germany; Italy; Portugal
2003
Finland; France; Ireland; USA; Luxembourg
2004
Greece; 
South 
Korea; 
Austria; 
Cyprus; 
Hungary; 
Iceland; 
Lithuania
2005
Estonia; Malta; Slovak Republic; Slovenia; Taiwan
2006
Croatia; Czech Republic; Japan; Oman; Poland; Saudi Arabia; 
South Africa
2007
Canada; Israel; Morocco; New Zealand; Pakistan
2008
Brazil; Bulgaria; Channel Islands; Egypt; Latvia; Macedonia; 
Malaysia, Mexico; Romania; Turkey
2009
Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Isle of Man
2010
Peru; Thailand
2011
Albania; Colombia; Georgia; Ghana; India; Kenya; Montenegro; 
Panama; Serbia
2012
Argentina; Bahrain; Belarus; Bosnia & Herzegovina; 
Cayman Islands; Chile; Gibraltar; Paraguay
2013
Azerbaijan; Bermuda; Cape Verde; Costa Rica; Kuwait; Moldova; 
Nigeria; Qatar; UAE
2014
Armenia, Honduras; Russia; Sudan
2015
Jamaica; El Salvador; Jamaica; Kazakhstan; Senegal; Tanzania
2016*
Afghanistan; Bangladesh; Cameroon; ECTEL; Iran; Rwanda; 
Sri Lanka; Trinidad & Tobago; Tunisia; Ukraine
2017*
Afghanistan; Barbados; Haiti; Rwanda; Vietnam
Implementation underway/In planning
2 Mobile Number Portability for PNG: Discussion Paper on Costs and Benefits: A Discussion 
Paper identifying the costs and benefits of the implementation of mobile number portability 
in Papua New Guinea as required pursuant to Section 189 of the National Information and 
Communications 
Technology 
Act, 
2009. 
See 
http://www.nicta.gov.pg/consultative- 
papers?task=download&id=242. Last visited on October 28, 2016.


While there is no law requiring the implementation of MNP in the 
Philippines, 
it 
was 
reported 
in 
July 
2005 
that 
the 
National 
Telecommunications Commission (NTC) was supposed to have “come up 
with a proposed set of rules on number portability among fixed line and 
mobile phone operators.”3 Three years later, in September 2008, then NTC 
Director for its Common Carriers Authorization Department and now 
Deputy Commissioner, Edgardo V. Cabarrios, said that the NTC “shelved 
plans for mobile number portability in the market.” Cabarrios claimed that 
it was “technically feasible, but not financially viable” as it was “too costly on 
the part of the subscribers based on the recommendation of the agency's 
technical working group.” It was not however clear whether such technical 
working 
group 
had 
taken 
submissions 
from 
number 
portability 
clearinghouses.4
Since then, there has been no further attempt at implementing 
number portability in the Philippines despite the 8-year interregnum, the 
multiplier effects of technology and innovation in the telecommunications 
industry which would have made number portability more viable at present, 
and the best practices we could learn from other countries which have 
implemented number portability regardless of the level of economic 
development.
It is the primary goal of this Act to make MNP a reality in the 
Philippines. Further, given how one’s mobile number is increasingly critical 
to establishing and maintaining one’s digital identity and ability to establish 
relations and transact with other citizens, this Act will also seek to recognize 
the ability of subscribers to change or switch service providers without 
losing their mobile numbers as a basic right.
3 See http://www.philstar.com /business/285543/ntc-prepares-rules-phone-num ber- 
portability. Last visited on October 28, 2016.
4 See http://www.cellular-news.com/story/Regulatory/33392.php. Last visited on October 
28, 2016.


This legislation will “untether the consumers from [their] wireless 
network,”5 making it “easier than ever to cut the cord.”6 1 urge the 
immediate approval of this bill and make mobile number portability a reality
for every consumer everywhere in the country.
s SEPARATE STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN MICHAEL K. POWELL Re: In re Telephone 
Number Portability; CTIA Petitions for Declaratory Ruling on Wireline Wireless Porting 
Issues; CC Docket No. 95-116. See https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachm atch/FCC- 
03-284Al.pdf. Last visited on October 28, 2016.
6 Ibid.


SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
]
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
]
F irst R egular Session 
]
SENATE 
S.B. No.
S..
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■16 
NOV 14 
P 2 : 1 3
K I
V:
Introduced by SEN. WIN GATCHALIAN
AN ACT
REQUIRING PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENTITIES TO PROVIDE 
NATIONWIDE MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY TO SUBSCRIBERS
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 
Philippines in Congress assembled:
1 
SECTION. 1. S hort Title, -  This Act shall be known as the “Mobile
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Number Portability Act. ”
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SEC. 2. D eclaration o f Policy. -  It is the declared policy of the State
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to recognize the primary role of the private sector as engine of economic
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growth and guarantees the right of individuals and private groups, including
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corporations, to own, establish and operate economic enterprises. Along
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with this recognition, the 1987 Constitution under its provisions on National
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Economy and Patrimony states that the use of property bears a social
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function where all economic agents shall contribute to the common good.
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The right of corporations to own, establish and operate economic enterprises
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is therefore subject to the duty of the State to intervene when the common
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good so demands -  including the duty to regulate the acquisition,
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ownership, use and disposition of private property through the regulation or
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prohibition of monopolies and combinations in restraint of trade or unfair
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competition.
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sex;. 3. Guiding Principles fo r Im plem entation. -  This Act declares 
the following as guiding principles:
a. 
The basic premise behind a nationwide mobile number portability 
system 
is 
to 
promote 
competition 
between 
and 
among 
public 
telecommunications entities by giving consumers the freedom to choose and 
to respond to quality, price and other relevant considerations without 
changing their mobile numbers whenever they change service providers.
b. 
In addition to promoting consumer welfare, mobile number portability 
is envisioned to provide powerful incentives for public telecommunications 
entities to compete with each other and to provide consumers with the best 
overall value that they can offer. It will also foster technological innovation 
that will stimulate even greater demand for telecommunications products 
and services and lead to a virtuous cycle of economic growth.
SEC. 4. Definition of Terms. -  As used in this Act:
a. 
Donor Provider refers to the public telecommunications entity to whose 
network the mobile number belongs at the time the subscriber makes an 
application for porting.
b. 
Mobile Number refers to the number series assigned by a public 
telecommunications entity to its postpaid and/or prepaid subscribers.
c. 
Mobile Number Portability or MNP refers to the ability of a subscriber, 
whether postpaid or prepaid, to retain an existing mobile number when 
moving from one public telecommunications entity to another without 
impairment of quality, reliability or convenience.
d. 
Mobile Postpaid Subscriber refers to any person, natural or juridical,
who 
avails of the mobile telecommunications service under a prior
arrangement with a public telecommunications entity. The subscriber is 
billed after the fact, according to the use of mobile services at the end of the 
monthly billing cycle.
e. 
Mobile Prepaid Subscriber refers to any person, natural or juridical,
who 
avails of the mobile telecommunications service from a public
telecommunications entity by purchasing credit in advance of service use.


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The purchased credit is used to pay for mobile phone services at the point 
the service is accessed or consumed.
f. 
Porting Application refers to an application made by a mobile 
subscriber to the Recipient Provider to move a mobile number from the 
Donor Provider.
g. 
Porting Process refers to the process by which a subscriber moves a 
mobile number 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 telecommunications entity that offers 
voice, short messaging system (SMS or text), mobile data, value added 
services (VAS) or any other telecommunications services to the public for a 
fee.
i. 
Recipient Provider refers to the public telecommunications entity that 
will be providing mobile telecommunications service to the subscriber after 
porting.
j. 
Subscriber refers to any person, natural or juridical, who avails of the 
mobile telecommunications service from a public telecommunications entity.
SEC. 5. Obligation o f Public Telecom m unications E ntities to 
Provide Mobile Number Portability. -  It shall be the obligation of every 
PTE to provide nationwide MNP to all mobile subscribers, whether 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 switch from one 
service provider to another 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.
SEC. 6. Obligation o f Public Telecom m unications E ntities to Set 
Up a  M echanism  fo r Mobile Number Portability. -  Every PTE shall, within 
the period stated under the implementing rules and regulations of this Act, 
set up a mechanism for the purpose of implementing MNP. It shall 
interconnect directly or indirectly with the infrastructure, facilities, systems


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or equipment of other PTEs and not install network features, functions or 
capabilities that will impede the implementation of a nationwide MNP 
system.
SEC. 7. Obligation of th e R ecipient 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 number porting application 
from the subscriber. Within such 24-hour period, it m ust transm it the 
mobile number porting application to the Donor Provider for the purpose of 
clearing the mobile number for porting. Upon notification that the mobile 
number has been cleared for porting, it shall immediately activate the 
subscriber’s ported number under its network.
SEC. 8. Obligation o f the Donor Provider. -  The Donor Provider 
shall, within the same 24-hour period provided under Section 7 of this Act, 
clear the mobile number for porting. It shall however continue to provide all 
subscribed telecommunications services to the subscriber until the mobile 
number has been completely ported to the Recipient Provider. The porting 
process shall be deemed complete upon the subsequent activation of the 
mobile number under the network of the Recipient Provider.
SEC. 9. Cost o f Mobile Number Portability. -  Every PTE shall 
provide mobile number portability to subscribers completely free of charge.
SEC. 10. Penalties. -  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 
Three Hundred Thousand Pesos (P300,000.00) for the first offense, and a 
fine of Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (P500,000.00) for the second offense. 
In case of a subsequent offense, the penalty shall be a fine of One Million 
Pesos (PI,000,000.00) and revocation of the PTE’s franchise to operate.
SEC. 11. Im plem enting Rules a n d  R egulations (IRR). -  Within 
ninety 
(90) 
days 
from 
the 
effectivity 
of this 
Act, 
the 
National


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Telecommunications Commission, in coordination with other concerned 
agencies, shall promulgate rules and regulations and other issuances as 
may be necessary to ensure the effective implementation of this Act.
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 period of time to be given for PTEs to comply with 
the provisions of this Act and set up a mechanism for the purpose of 
implementing nationwide MNP; 2) the specific rights and obligations of 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 number 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 
measures to ensure the least amount of disruption of service to the 
consumer when implementing mobile number portability.
SEC. 12. S eparability Clause. -  If any provision of this Act is held 
invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected thereby shall 
remain in full force and effect.
SEC. 13. Repealing Clause. -  All laws, decrees, executive orders, 
proclamations, rules and regulations, and issuances, or parts thereof which 
are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, are hereby repealed, 
amended or modified accordingly.
SEC. 14. Effectivity Clause. -  This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) 
days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) 
newspapers of general circulation.
Approved,