Free of charge! Osiptel regulates that portability between operators must be free

Osiptel published the Resolution No. 017-2024-CD/Osiptel in which they regulate portability in mobile operators mobile public service and in the fixed telephone service. This with the objective of determining the provisions and procedures applicable to this change of provider and being able to maintain the same number.

Find out in this note what the regulations indicate and what the protocol is to request free portability between operators:

How to carry out portability between operators, according to Osiptel?

According to the resolution No. 017-2024-CD/Osiptel, The client must request it from his operator, and he will not be able to raise any objection. However, there are a number of requirements. There cannot be more than 30 days difference between each portability request. This period is from the date on which the line is enabled.

“The concessionaire is prohibited from restricting the exercise of the right to portability through any mechanism that penalizes the presentation of the portability request or that in any other way implies the transfer of costs to the subscriber,” reads article 5 of chapter 2. of the Osiptel resolution.

However, there are some impediments why the company cannot reject your portability request:

• The service of the number to be ported is suspended.
• The telephone number to be ported has a demandable debt with the transferring concessionaire.
• The telephone number to be ported does not have at least 30 calendar days of authorization on the transferring dealer’s network.

In the case of mobile operators, portability is not geographical, that is, if you are in a different department than where you obtained your mobile line, you can do it where you are. Contrary to the case of a fixed number, you do need to be in the service region.

What information should the person who is going to carry out the portability have?

According to Osiptel, the company that is going to transfer the right to portability must provide the following information immediately upon request:

• The economic conditions to be applied to the subscriber, if decided by an early termination of the service provision contract.
• The amount to be paid by the subscriber, if the subscriber decides for an early termination of the contract for the acquisition or financing of the terminal equipment.
• In the case of packaged services, on the economic conditions to be applied to the remaining services, once number portability is executed; and the alternative rate plans for contracting them, either individually or jointly.

On the other hand, the new operator must inform the client:

• The free portability process.
• The maximum period that the portability process can take.
• The requirements that must be met to submit the portability request.
• The characteristics, technology used, modalities, scope and limitations or restrictions, as well as the economic conditions of the service offered.
• The existence of technical facilities for the provision of the service, which, among other information, includes coverage.
• The possibility that there are collections corresponding to pending payment obligations with the assigning concessionaire.
• The possibility that there may be charges corresponding to penalties or other obligations that are generated as a consequence of the early termination of the contract with the transferring concessionaire.
• The portability process refers only to the public mobile service or the fixed telephone service and not to other services, so billing and collections for these other services could be maintained by the transferring concessionaire.
• The cancellation of the landline telephone service does not imply the cancellation of other packaged services that were contracted.
• The need to become aware of the conditions to be applied, to decide for the client to maintain services other than the fixed telephone service with the transferring concessionaire.
• The possibility of contracting the fixed telephone service packaged with other services from the new provider, so in this case the subscriber must request the cancellation of the other services.
• The possibility of having your service affected for a maximum of 3 hours during the change window.
• At the beginning of the change window, the customer loses the prepaid balances, the traffic included in the unconsumed rate plans, as well as any other benefit provided by the previous associated company, the telephone line that is being carried.
• The client who is using terminal equipment as a rental or loan must return it to the previous company in accordance with the provisions of the respective contract.
• The execution of portability is independent of the delivery of the SIM Card.
• The effectiveness of the contract is conditional on the authorization of the ported number on the receiving concessionaire’s network.