Mobile Number Portability (MNP) – what is it?

Some of you may already know what Mobile Number Portability (MNP) is all about but many are still wondering how exactly it works. I am receiving common questions regarding this MNP & the main question will be, “if I switch from telco A to Telco B, will my phone’s prefix change from 01A to 01B?” If you have this question in your mind too, then you are at the right place

MNP was introduced in Malaysia in the year 2008. This system is very common in many other countries. In fact, Malaysia introduced this system very late here (well, better late than never). What is the concept of MNP? It simply means that if you decide to switch your telco, for example from Maxis to Celcom, you can now do it without changing your phone number. Scenario below explains better regarding MNP.

Scenario

Assuming that you have 012-abcdefj. This is from Maxis. You want to port-in to Celcom because most of your friends are using Celcom. Before MNP was launched, you need to get another number from Celcom, which will be a totally different number. If you decide to change, you need to inform your friends that you have changed your number. Imagine, what will the cost be if you have 1000 contacts in your phone book?

If you decide to terminate your current number, which is 012-abcdefj, you will lose all the contacts that will call you via this number. Imagine that you are a businessmen, you will not know who is having your contact number & who is not. People who are not in your phone book can also call you & you will lose a client if you change your phone number.

Due to these problems, you have to stick with your current telco. This is where MNP saves you. After MNP was launched, you don’t need to inform your friends that you have changed your number. You also do not need to be worried that you are going to lose your business. Why? All this is because your number, which is 012-abcdefj will remain the same even if you decide to switch from Maxis to Celcom, for example

Ok, I am done with the scenario. Are you clear? Any questions so far? If yes, you may drop your comments at the comment box, right at the bottom. Otherwise, I will proceed

Have you decided which telco are you going to switch to? For your info, there are there are five telcos that you can switch to. Below are all the telcos (you can click on the logo to go to the telco’s website).

1) Celcom

2) DiGi

3) Maxis & Hotlink

4) Tune Talk (prepaid)

5) U Mobile

I’ve given a direct link to MNP details for each telco except for Celcom. Sorry readers, I have to admit that Celcom website is not user friendly. Nothing is in one click & it is a little complicated compared to other sites. Anyway, no worries, you can find the details about MNP for celcom at the bottom right of their home page. They have few links for prepaid MNP’s & postpaid MNP’s.

Some of you may ask, “why Happy & Merchantrade Mobile is not included?” As for Happy, it is a company under DiGi. They do have MNP as well. You can easily port in to them. Below is the link to their MNP site (please click on the logo) :

As for Merchantrade Mobile, sorry people, I can’t find any information regarding port in @ MNP to them. Well, I assume that they do not offer any port-in at the moment.

Now, how do you port-in to another telco? Before that, let me explain on the jargon because I may use it many times. Port-in stands for joining a telco & port-out stands for leaving a telco. Ok, now, if you would like to port-in to a particular telco, all you need to do is go to that telco’s centre. For example, if you would like to switch from Tune Talk to U Mobile, where do you go? You should go to U Mobile’s centre nearby. Got the idea? You do not need to go to your existing telco.

If you are using a prepaid number, it will be easier to port-in to another telco. The only problem that you may face is your information with the current telco & the new telco may not be same & your application will be rejected. Another thing is, if you have any credit with your current telco, it will be forfeited when you move in to a new telco. You can’t get a refund as well, so use up all your credit before porting out.

If you are using a postpaid, it will be more complicated. Below are the rules to port-out if you are using a postpaid plan :

1) You can’t port-out if you are tied in a contract with your current service provider.

2) If you have supplementary lines, you have to port-out your supplementary lines as well. You cannot port-out only your principle & leave your supplementary lines with your current service provider.

3) Make sure you settle all your outstanding bills before porting out. Outstanding bills will be any bills where the statement is already out but you have not paid. If you have ongoing usage which is not billed yet, you do not need to worry about it. You can still port-out & when the bill is out, you can pay for it (for this you need to double check with your telco).

Erm, that’s all I guess. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me