TRA Issues Number Portability Regulatory Framework

MUSCAT, AUGUST 30

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has issued the Number Portability Regulatory Framework, a strategic move designed to empower end-users to select the telecommunications service provider that best aligns with their requirements in terms of pricing, service quality, and network coverage, while retaining their existing numbers. The framework further seeks to regulate and govern number portability procedures, ensuring their seamless execution and thereby fostering fair competition within the telecommunications market.

The regulation aims to institutionalize and standardize number portability processes, automate transfer operations, and establish a clear time-bound framework for service completion-thereby accelerating number transitions, streamlining procedures, and enhancing the overall user experience. Concurrently, it reinforces equitable competition among licensees and solidifies the Authority's supervisory role in monitoring service delivery in accordance with the highest regulatory standards.

The regulation addresses both licensed telecommunications service providers and end-users, delineating the roles, obligations, and entitlements of each party, so as to ensure more efficient and transparent service provision, bolster user confidence in the telecommunications market, and keep pace with the sector's ongoing evolution within the Sultanate of Oman.

The Sultanate of Oman first introduced number portability services in 2006, enabling end-users to switch between telecommunications service providers while retaining their numbers. In 2008, the Authority issued the inaugural regulatory instrument governing licensees' obligations concerning the provision of this service. However, with the expansion of the telecommunications market and the concomitant increase in the number of licensees, the need to overhaul the regulatory framework became evident, following the identification of several practices that had adversely affected the efficiency of number portability operations-including delays in processing requests. This necessitated the automation of the process and the establishment of a centralized system to ensure both expeditious and equitable procedures. (ONA)