Just recently, changing a mobile operator and keeping your number on another television system was something out of science fiction. Now anyone can transfer their telephone number, for example from MTS to Beeline. In this article you will find a detailed algorithm of actions on how to transfer to MTS with your number, and also learn about the rules of the transfer system.
There was no market redistribution
Over 5 years, 120 thousand subscribers have used the MNP service, which is slightly more than 1% of the subscriber base (11 million subscribers). For comparison: in some countries up to 50% of the subscriber base can “migrate”. In Turkey, the government was even forced to limit the ability of subscribers to change mobile operators: due to the fact that citizens are constantly connecting and disconnecting, mobile companies are incurring huge losses.
In Belarus, 1–2% of citizens transfer their number every month. These figures are also lower than in other countries. Probably the reason is the weak interest of mobile operators (for example, velcom and MTS refused to comment to Bel.biz regarding MNP) and, as a consequence, low awareness of citizens about the service. Of the three players in the mobile market, only life:) annually conducts two large advertising campaigns aimed at popularizing MNP. “Large” operators are “silent”, apparently adhering to a strategy of retaining existing customers.
MASMI study regarding number portability service. Respondents were asked to rate the procedure on a 10-point scale, where 1 is very easy, 10 is very difficult.
As a result, the leader in number porting services today is the mobile operator life:). Since the launch of MNP and as of March 1, 2017, 88.4 thousand subscribers have transferred their number to life:). Another reason for leadership is that the operator appeared last on the market. The flow of subscribers from “big” operators to “newbies” is a common global practice. That is, the situation in Belarus is quite typical.
How to port a number to another operator without leaving home
I’m talking about the non-obvious nuances of the procedure for transferring an MNP (mobile number portability) number from one operator to another. It turned out that the conditions for accepting new subscribers differ among operators. For example, MTS gives money to new clients, while Beeline and Megafon, on the contrary, ask to pay for relocation.
So, MNP works in the following cases:
– The number is assigned to you . In this case, the passport data must completely match. Any mistake in the number or spelling of a surname is a possible reason for refusal; – You have no debts under any contracts of the “old” operator . If ten years ago you bought a SIM card in another city and threw it away later, but it didn’t have a balance of -2 kopecks, then a refusal will follow. You’ll have to go to the office and balance the debits and credits; – The transfer is carried out within one subject of the Federation . For example, you cannot move while keeping your number from the Yaroslavl region to the Novosibirsk region, and from Moscow go to Kaliningrad.
I had no debts, the Moscow district remained. The move was not driven by a search for better rates. The reason is banal: the family slowly needed an additional MTS number, and a beautiful Beeline number was lying idle, so by transfer I saved the old one and received material for this publication.
Why do legal entities and individuals change operators?
As MASMI research shows, most often subscribers decide to change operators due to the price factor. Additional reasons: most people in the environment use the services of a new operator, service, promotions, quality of services (coverage, signal). These reasons apply to both individuals and legal entities.
– It happens that companies do not transfer the numbers of all employees, but only some,
– says
Evgeniy Martinovich , head of the strategic planning department of life:). – Because some services in the company are not number sensitive. For example, a modem: employees do not care which number is used for the Internet.
MASMI study on number portability service
The conditions for porting a number, starting from 2014, are the same for all operators and do not differ for individuals and legal entities. To use the MNP service, you need to come to the operator and leave a statement - the number will be transferred within 24 hours. The MNP service is free: you do not need to pay any compensation to the “native” operator.
But there are restrictions when you cannot port a number. These include: data discrepancy, presence of financial obligations (debt) and voice auto-informer. These points are a “stumbling block” for mobile market players, because of which both individuals and legal entities suffer. Technically, the number can be switched in a few seconds.
Conditions of the “Unlimited” tariff
Now we will name the main conditions for using this tariff plan:
- in the first ninety days a person will pay 12.9 rubles monthly;
- starting from the ninety-first day of using the tariff, the fee will be raised to the amount of 16.37 rubles;
- the ability to make free calls to any five numbers of other operators;
- Internet use will be unlimited;
- 400 minutes for on-net calls.
Reason #1: the data does not match
For individuals we are talking about passport data, for legal entities this is the name and UNP. And for legal entities, solving the problem with mismatched data is more difficult. You can write: LLC “LLC, Limited Liability Company “Company Z”, with or without quotes... And all these will be different names. The system identifies the characters and if they do not match, at least one letter, the company will be refused to port the number.
I found myself in a similar situation, whose management was transferring numbers to life:) - the details did not match.
– It got to the point of absurdity
– says Evgeniy Martinovich.
– As a result, the company management had to submit a statement that the name was spelled in a certain way. My colleagues and I spent a week entering the correct data.
The story of the launch of MNP for Ukraine
As it became known, the official launch of MNP in Ukraine was postponed for a long time due to protracted litigation between the Ukrainian State Radio Frequency Center (UGCR) and contractor companies that agreed to organize the work of MNP.
So in 2015, the UGCR obliged the NCRSI to hold a tender, after which the winner had to provide software and equipment in order to implement the above-mentioned service. But as often happens, during this tender a conflict arose directly between its participants, namely between and S.I. Center. Thus, court proceedings regarding who would actually integrate MNP continued for several years, so Ukraine could not start using this service at the same time as other countries in the world.
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So in 2021, the NCRSI agreed on the timing of the launch of the service with mobile operators and government agencies, regarding the cost of this service. The rules state that all users have the right to use this service and it does not matter what operator they have, no matter whether they used the service on a contract basis, on a tariff basis or on a free basis. The only restriction that is stated in the rules is that changing your number is possible no more than once a month.
Reason #2: financial obligations
Belarusian legislation does not have a clear definition of what financial obligations are in relation to the MNP service. This gives the operator grounds to refuse to port the number.
In particular, financial liabilities can be understood as the presence of current debt. This is a big problem for legal entities that prefer to be serviced on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Evgeniy Martinovich
In general, from the point of view of legislation, for legal entities the presence of unfulfilled financial obligations is, in essence, an invoice issued but not paid. If the company must pay it on the 25th of the month, then the “minus” on the account is not an outstanding financial obligation.
– However, if the subscriber decides to port the number, our competitors often consider the current debt as an unfulfilled financial obligation,
– says
Evgeny Martinovich . – And they deny legal entities the MNP service. In my practice, there were very few cases when a company could export numbers while in debt.
How to switch to Velcom and save your phone number
Many people are ready to easily change their operator, but are not willing to part with their subscriber number. This is understandable, especially if the client contact has been in use for many years. It contains connections that can be lost when switching to another number. Understanding this problem, Velcom Belarus is ready to provide its customers with a painless change of provider while maintaining the subscriber number.
Ping-pong between operators
This is the situation in which Marina K. , assistant manager, supplier of equipment for retail enterprises found herself (the specialist asked not to use her full name and the name of the enterprise, since the company is thinking about transferring another number and is afraid of problems):
– We transferred the number because four of the company’s numbers were already connected to the life:) network. We saw that the tariffs were lower, calls within the network were free, so it was more profitable to change the operator. The number was transferred from velcom.
Initially, velcom told us that to port a number we just need to fill out an application. A positive balance is not required, since under the contract payment is based on actual payment. But when we were about to port the number, velcom rejected the application, citing the law. They say that at the time of porting the number there must be a positive balance. They named the amount to be deposited. We paid.
But it is extremely difficult for an operating company to ensure a positive balance: calls are coming in constantly, so the deposited amount was not enough. And our application was rejected again.
Then another velcom employee said that we are not obliged to make payment. The invoice is paid upon delivery. We submitted the application again and it was rejected again. And only when we deposited a very large amount, with a reserve, the number was finally able to be transferred.
The resolution of the issue was constantly delayed. At some stage, representatives of the operator began to offer to reduce tariffs and send lucrative offers. It turned out that we had been using the old tariff for a long time, which was extremely unprofitable. It seems to me that velcom employees deliberately delayed the issue.
We provided all the details, including a copy of the charter, registration certificate, and agreement. They always paid bills on time... I don’t understand why we were forced to make extraordinary payments: we urgently had to pay a rather large amount - on the same day that we submitted the application. It was difficult to calculate it: it is impossible to predict how many calls employees will make during the day.
I am an assistant manager and wanted to transfer the manager’s number as quickly as possible. And I had to do this for three weeks. I have extremely unpleasant memories from this procedure. You may have to port another number. And I shudder to think how we will do this. I spent so much time on this ping-pong between companies! In fact, the MNP service exists, but everything is done with difficulty.
Do you need it
Usually the number is transferred in search of favorable rates. You have 10 days to cancel the procedure. During this time, the old operator calls you and offers a secret tariff that is not on the website, or gives a 20-30% discount on the existing one.
The process itself is currently quite streamlined and automated. You just need to fill out an application on the website of the operator you want to move to. MTS itself sends a courier to you, I don’t know about others. Let me know in the comments about your experience. Who did they go to, why, did everything go smoothly?
(
4.73 out of 5, rated: 11)
Reason #3: voice informant
Another problem is the voice autoinformer. In particular, this may be a problem for subscribers who are already using the service. Let's figure out how it works.
In Belarus, it is accepted at the legislative level that there must be an audio informant. But which one - voice or melody - is not specified. The life:) network uses a melodic beep. This means that if someone has transferred a number from the life:) network to the network of another operator, and life:) subscribers call this number, they hear a melody. Life:) does not play the annoying message that the number has been transferred, this is the operator’s position.
– Even though subscribers have left our network, the company does not create discomfort for them in using the services of another operator. It's their choice and right
– says Evgeniy Martinovich.
Other operators have different views on auto-notification: both velcom and MTS notify by voice. What does this lead to?
– I transferred my number from velcom to life:) because now my work involves active business trips, including abroad, and I was attracted by life:) tariffs
– says
Vadim Khoroshilov , representative for financial and technical issues of the Brazilian company Jacto. – Now, if subscribers of other networks call, before connecting, a voice says that the number has been transferred.
It is unpleasant. At first, many acquaintances and partners thought that the subscriber (that is, me) was out of range and hung up. They are not interested in hearing where the number has been moved to. Autoinformer is inconvenient. From time to time I have to explain to my friends that this is an auto-informer, and the message must be listened to to the end. – They made me a good offer, so I transferred the number to life:),
– says
Alexander Petrenko , Chairman of the RO NGO “Belarusian Society of Disabled Persons”. – The main difficulty is the auto-informer.
Many people think that it is impossible to reach me, many simply hang up. – We are not embarrassed by the autoinformer, although we would like it not to exist,
– says Marina K. –
Still, 5–10 seconds while the message is played is a person’s time. Both the one who is being called and the one who is calling.
Possible restrictions
You cannot use the transfer function under the following circumstances:
- a subscriber served in the “Privet” tariff plan has the status “Waiting for activation” or “Service termination”.
- It is impossible to port a number that has any restrictions. For example, the option to receive incoming calls has been suspended.
- presence of outstanding debts for communication services.
- the presence of obligations under the contract (for example, the provision of equipment for use) that cannot be repaid before the end of the contract.
In the case when the subscriber’s number was transferred to Velcom from another provider, the client will be denied the “Subscriber Re-registration” function.
Other problems
Due to the fact that the service is rarely provided, not all consultants perform it efficiently. Even if the subscriber has done everything necessary. Confirmation is the experience of Marina K., who was faced with inconsistency in the actions of velcom network employees. They did not have a clear approach on how to work with MNP.
It happens that when porting a number, subscribers lose subscriptions to services. For example, SMS notification. This happens because content providers are not connected to the number portability database. Operators have learned to solve this problem. But it is there.
Another problem is organizational. Today, when providing MNP services, according to the law, technical interaction between operators is not provided.
– We are ready for it, but have not yet found support from other market players,
– says Evgeniy Martinovich.
– What could it be?
For example, using special contacts. Currently, operators are cooperating within the framework of a network technical cooperation agreement. We have services that respond to various incidents: they control the admission of traffic, the provision of services, etc. There is no such interaction with the MNP service. If the operators had cooperated, the conflict with Kronosmoto could have been avoided. Everything would happen faster. In fact, the situation was resolved when the conflict reached its climax and reached the level of general directors.
Detailed information
When it comes to mobile Internet, it is worth mentioning that in this tariff plan, each user can use their mobile Internet only from a smartphone or tablet. Using a SIM card in a modem is strictly prohibited. The modem was allowed to use only 50 megabytes, which were already included in the monthly fee. If you use the entire daily allowance, then you will need to pay money for modem mode.
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How can you switch to another communication provider?
Mobile operators approached this issue with full responsibility and formed the following algorithm of actions for the transition:
- Subscriber identification - thus, in order to change the number, the current mobile operator is required to identify the user’s identity. Users who are contract subscribers do not participate in the transition at all, since everything is done automatically, and other users need to make a call to their operator or go to the company store. To successfully complete this procedure, it is enough to provide any document confirming your identity.
- Filling out an application with a new operator - this option can be used not only in the operator’s company store, but also remotely through the website. A user who submits an application online will have to enter their number and then fill out instructions in electronic format. In the store branch, in turn, you need to submit an application, which will indicate contact information, the desired date of transition to a new provider, indicate the choice of tariff plan and confirm your permission to process personal data, only after all this information will the solution to this issue begin.
- Receiving a new SIM card in a company store - the old user number will be automatically linked to the new card, this whole procedure will take no more than three hours, and most likely during this period of time the user number will be unavailable, so warn your loved ones so as not to worry and We didn't try to call you at this time. After the process is completed, the user will receive a notification regarding the successful transfer to the new SIM card, and will be able to continue using it as before.
Switching to another telecom provider
