Why people show disinterest in mobile number portability
Adverse regulations, flawed network topology, and unfriendly industry practices hinder the service’s popularity
In October 2018, mobile phone users in Bangladesh gained the freedom to switch operators without changing their numbers, thanks to the launch of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) services.
Amid early hype, over one lakh users switched networks in May 2019 alone. However, the monthly number has since dropped to fewer than 4,000.
According to Infozillion Teletech BD, the country's sole MNP operator, around seven lakh numbers were ported in the first year, while it took over five years to add another seven lakh users.
Despite the service being available for over six years, less than 1% of Bangladesh's 18.65 crore active mobile subscribers have ported their numbers.
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At a seminar on the prospects and challenges of Mobile Number Portability (MNP), officials from Infozillion Teletech BD pointed to adverse regulations, flawed network topology, and unfriendly industry practices as key reasons behind the service's low popularity.
According to Infozillion, the MNP licence mandates both the telecom regulator and mobile operators to raise public awareness through print and electronic media. However, just before the service launched, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) prohibited MNP-related advertisements by operators.
"Such barriers should be removed in line with best practices to ensure people are aware of their right to switch operators if they're dissatisfied with service quality or pricing," said Infozillion Teletech CEO Brigadier General (Rtd) Md Mustafa Kamal.
Currently, 45% of customer requests to switch networks are being rejected by the operator they wish to leave, he said.
At the seminar titled "Mobile Number Portability: Service, Challenges, and Possibilities," organised by the Telecom and Technology Reporters' Network Bangladesh, Infozillion Teletech BD officials urged the BTRC to cap the operator rejection rate at 5% and impose penalties for unjustified rejections.
A sample of 22 customer complaints was presented at the event, with users alleging their operators had wrongfully rejected MNP requests.
Additionally, officials noted that most nearby customer service points lack MNP kits, although they continue to sell new SIM cards and offer regular SIM replacements, making MNP services less accessible compared to other markets.
Receiving SMS on ported numbers remains one of the biggest challenges for users. Infozillion Teletech officials blamed the problem on a complex network topology, adding that they could resolve it with regulatory support.
In voice calls, a third party called the Interconnection Exchange (ICX) connects calls between two operators. Since regulations make ICX mandatory for voice calls to ported numbers, these calls generally face no issues.
However, SMS lacks such an interconnection layer. As a result, when a number is ported, it often fails to receive SMS sent from other networks, even though it appears to belong to the new operator, Infozillion officials explained.
In 2023, the BTRC mandated that all machine-generated SMS, including one-time passwords, must be routed through a central platform managed by the MNP operator, but only when sent via SMS aggregators, who act as resellers for mobile operators.
However, according to Infozillion Teletech, only about 7% of daily machine-generated SMS are routed through the platform, while the rest are sent directly by mobile operators.
Masking of application-to-person (A2P) SMS—where the sender's name (e.g., an organisation) is displayed—has become another issue for users with ported numbers, leaving them feeling deprived.
In addition, mobile financial service providers are not required to connect to the central SMS routing platform, causing problems in delivering OTPs to ported numbers.
"Who wants to miss an OTP?" Infozillion Managing Director Mabroor Hossain said while explaining the poor demand for MNP services.
He called for a set of proper regulatory moves to streamline the services while speaking at the seminar moderated by TRNB General Secretary Masuduzzaman Robin and presided over by its President, Samir Kumar Dey.
