RATEL has adopted a new Rulebook on number portability for services provided via public communications networks at a fixed location („Official Gazette of RS“, No. 101/22), which will enter into force on September 14, 2022, and become applicable as of August 1, 2023. Until that period, the provisions of the current Rulebook on number portability on public telephone networks at a fixed location („Official Gazette of RS“,  No. 52/11) shall apply.

The adoption of the new act was preceded by an analysis of the recent practice in the application of the current rulebook, which revealed a room for improvement of the number porting procedure in order to facilitate and speed up the number porting process for users, simultaneously providing the operators with the opportunity to more efficiently carry out the number porting procedure between the networks.

The changes introduced by the new rulebook, compared to the current provisions refer, among other, to the reduction of the deadlines in the process of number portability, fine-tuning of the provisions in order to eliminate the possibility of different interpretations, particularly in the part regarding the rejection of porting requests, as well as to prescribing the accessibility of online submittal of requests for number porting.

For users, the most important feature of the new regulation is the abolition of the possibility of charging for the service of number portability by the recipient operator at the expense of the subscriber, even though in practice the number porting procedure was free for users both in fixed and mobile networks.

It is also stipulated that the request for number porting can be submitted on Saturdays, as well as with a fixed date, at most 30 days in advance. For business users with a big number of telephone numbers, it is important that the operators are obliged to provide data on all their telephone numbers, along with the data regarding the contract and contract expiration date for each telephone number.

The amendments to the new rulebooks governing the process of number portability in fixed and mobile networks entail changes to the operation of the Central Database of Ported Numbers,  kept by RATEL, which is key to the functioning of the service of number portability. Furthermore, certain adjustments of the operators’ systems (4 mobile operators + 26 fixed operators) are necessary as well. Bearing in mind the complexity of the process and the need for the operators’ internal procedures to adapt to the new rules, it was vital to set a reasonable deadline for the adaptation of all systems to new requirements, so that both Rulebooks are duly implemented. Since these two Rulebooks governing the service of number portability in fixed and in mobile telephony greatly overlap and use the same system of Central Database of Ported Numbers, it is foreseen that they start to apply simultaneously, as of the same date.

RATEL is especially dedicated to preserving the continuity of the number portability service and functioning of the Central Database of Ported Numbers, through which more than 1.5 million numbers have been ported so far.

Detailed information can be found at the following link: https://www.ratel.rs/en/page/number-portability