ICP - Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ICP - National Communications Authority)
Regulation
(This is not an official translation of the law)
Regulation no. 58/2005 of 18 August, the Portability Regulation, which establishes the principles and rules that apply to portability in public telephone networks and which is binding on all undertakings with portability obligations, was published on 18 August 2005. Until that date, and as from 28 June 2001 for fixed networks and January 2002 for mobile networks, the Portability Specification remained in force, which results in more than seven years of experience with the adopted portability solution.
However, the dynamics of the electronic communications market and corresponding appeal for users of this type of service require that the change of operator associated to the number portability is carried out effectively and quickly. In this regard, the European Commission has also declared that user’s waiting time for portability should be minimized significantly.
The Regulation having thus been in force for about three years, the practice of undertakings operating under it has shown the need for some amendments to the initial wording, as regards principles and rules to be complied with.
The responsibility of the recipient provider throughout the whole process is highlighted, rules of effectiveness between providers are introduced and subscriber protection is strengthened. Within this context, monetary compensatory amounts are defined for situations of fault or negligence, both between providers and towards the subscriber, and time-limits for activating subscriber portability are established.
Provision is also made for the portability of numbers of subscribers and ex-subscribers of undertakings that cancel the service and to whom the functionality must be ensured.
Therefore, pursuant to article 9a) of the Statutes of ICP-ANACOM, approved by Decree-Law no. 309/2001, of 7 December, to article 54, paragraph 5, and to article 125, both of Law no. 5/2004 of 10 February, the Board of Directors of ICP-ANACOM hereby approves the following amendment to Regulation no. 58/2005 of 18 August:
Article 1
Amendment to Regulation no. 58/2005 of 18 August
Articles 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22 and 23 of Regulation no. 58/2005 of 18 August, are hereby amended to read as follows:
«Article 2
Definitions and abbreviations
1. For the purposes of the provisions of these regulations, the following definitions shall apply:
a) (…)
b) (…)
c) (…)
d) (…)
e) (…)
f) (repealed)
g) (…)
h) (…)
i) (…)
j) DDI Range: ranges of 10, 100, or 1,000 contiguous numbers, starting with a number ending in 0, 00, and 000, respectively, identifying PABX extensions. DDI ranges of a PABX may be either contiguous or non-contiguous;
k) (...)
l) (...)
m) Multiple Subscriber Number (MSN): set of individual numbers allocated to the same network interface, which may include contiguous or non-contiguous numbers;
n) (…)
o) (…)
p) (…)
q) (…)
r) (…)
s) (…)
t) (…)
u) (…)
v) (…)
w) (…)
x) (…)
z) (…)
2. For the purposes of the provisions of these regulations, the following abbreviations shall apply:
a) (…)
b) (…)
c) (…)
d) (…)
e) (…)
f) (…)
g) (repealed)
h) (repealed)
i) (repealed)
j) (…)
k) (…)
l) (…)
m) RUO: Reference Unbundling Offer ;
n) RIO: Reference Interconnection Offer;
o) [former point m)]
p) [former point n)]
q) [former point o)]
r) [former point p)]
s) [former point q)]
t) [former point r)]
u) [former point s)]
v) (repealed)
w) [former point t)]
x) (repealed)
y) [former point u)]
z) [former point w)]
aa) VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol
Article 3
1. Numbers assigned to the following services may be ported:
a) (...)
b) Mobile telephone service (91, 92, 93, 96 and any others assigned for this service);
c) Nomadic VoIP service (30);
d) [former point c)]
e) [former point d)]
f) [former point e)]
g) Flat-rate call service (760, 761, 762);
h) Premium-rate utility service (71);
i) Personal Number Service (884);
j) Other services considered on a case-by-case basis by decision of ICP-ANACOM.
2. (…)
3. (…)
4. (…)
5. (…)
6. (…)
7. (…)
8. (…)
Article 4
Portability solution
1. (...)
2. Where the service is cancelled, within the framework of article 11, the originating network, in the absence of a donor network that sends a release message (#14), shall route the calls directly to ported numbers of the cancelled service blocks, as from the date on which the cancellation takes place, which shall be made publicly available by ICP-ANACOM.
3. (former paragraph 2)
4. (former paragraph 3).
Article 6
Obligations of the donor and holder providers
1. The DP is responsible for the numbers which have been assigned to it by the regulator on a primary allocation as well as for those held following a situation of service cancellation in the framework of article 11.
2. (…)
3. (…)
4. (…)
5. (…)
6. (…)
7. (…)
8. The DP shall not prevent the RP from allowing the maintenance of the number in case of a transfer of contractual position between subscribers, insofar as the service is not interrupted.
Article 7
Obligations of the recipient provider
1. (...)
2. (...)
3. (...)
4. (...)
5. (...)
6. (...)
7. (...)
a) (...)
b) (...)
c) With respect to number portability of the mobile telephone number, the fact that callers will no longer be able to identify the destination network through the number;
d) (...)
8. (...)
9. (...)
10. (...)
11. (...)
12. (...)
13. The RP is required to comply with the conditions of use of ported numbers, including during the quarantine period, where applicable.
Article 8
Common obligations for undertakings with portability obligations
1. (...)
2. (...)
3. (...)
4. (...)
5. (...)
6. Undertakings are required to bear, both in their own systems and those of the RE, the costs of the automatic portability solution in force and those related to any changes to that solution, resulting from regulatory measures adopted by ICP-ANACOM, namely in order to implement the provisions in article 11, following applicable consultation procedures.
7. (...)
8. (...)
9. Undertakings that, in the scope of paragraph 5 of article 11, assume all obligations and rights to numbers of the cancelled service, must send to ICP-ANACOM, 10 working days after the quarantine period that follows the service cancellation, the lists of numbers concerned and the date on which obligations are assumed.
Article 10
Termination of the agreement
1. (...)
2. The termination of the agreement, duly identified as being for purposes of portability, shall be addressed to the DP and submitted by the subscriber to the RP, the RP being required to verify the termination document, in order to check in particular if the respective signature complies with the identification document presented (Citizen Card, Identification Card, Residence Permit or Passport). Where a legal entity is concerned, a document that proves the ability of the signer to sign the termination document on behalf of the legal person must also be submitted to the RP.
3. The RP shall send every month to the DP, by any means which allow the proper identification of the subscriber and respective signature, all termination documents related to portability orders made effective within the preceding 30 days, save as otherwise agreed between the undertakings.
4. (…)
5. As regards pre-paid services, the termination is made effective by means of a portability order which must be submitted to the RP pursuant to article 12, in a document signed by the subscriber, the RP being required to send the orders to the DP, in compliance with paragraph 3.
6. (...)
7. (...)
8. (...)
Article 11
Service cancellation
1. (...)
2. (...)
3. (...)
4. The service cancellation is rendered operational with the following actions:
a) ICP-ANACOM recovers all numbers the rights of which had been allocated to the undertaking by this Authority, including numbers which on the date of service cancellation were not active, and those that were active but were not ported during the quarantine period;
b) The DP recovers all numbers that had been ported to the undertaking cancelling the service and which during the quarantine period are not subject to an order for portability to another operator;
c) The RP assumes all rights and responsibilities associated to their subscribers' numbers allocated primarily to the undertaking of the cancelled service, which had been ported to it up to the date of service cancellation, as from that date;
d) The RP assumes all rights and responsibilities associated to their subscribers' numbers allocated primarily to the undertaking of the cancelled service, which had been ported in the first portability order during the quarantine period, as from the date on which the portability is made effective;
e) The RP assumes a DP condition for the numbers of subscribers under the conditions in the two preceding paragraphs who become subscribers of other undertakings through portability;
f) The RE takes the role of HP, in terms of procedure, for the first portability of numbers of the cancelled service, as from the date of cancellation and during the quarantine period.
5. To the RP of ported numbers of an undertaking that cancelled the service as provided for herein and to whom such numbers had been allocated primarily by the regulatory authority apply all conditions associated to the rights of use of those numbers as from the date of service cancellation or date on which the first portability order is made effective, if the latter occurred later, during the quarantine period. Where these numbers are ported in the future, the RP takes the place of a DP.
6. Where the RP receives a portability order concerning a number or numbers of a subscriber of an undertaking that cancelled the service as provided for herein, it shall act as if a DP existed, this role being played by the RE as far as procedure is concerned.
Article 12
Portability order
1. (...)
2. (...)
3. (...)
4. (...)
5. The portability order is submitted electronically by the RP to the DP - electronic portability order - with a proposal of three different time frame and day options, which must include 2 consecutive working days, in order of priority, of which the DP is required to accept one, bearing in mind paragraphs 8 and 9 hereof, the order being placed at least two working days ahead of the first proposal in time.
6. (…)
7. The DP shall reply to the electronic portability order within at the most one working day, accepting one of the proposed options or rejecting the electronic portability order, pursuant to article 13, in which case a justification is due.
8. (…)
9. When a time-frame, between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m., between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. or between 18 p.m. and 21 p.m., is chosen as first or second priority, the DP shall not choose the third option.
10. The RP of a number of the mobile telephone service shall ensure that the portability is made effective within at the most three working days from the date on which the order is placed by the subscriber, except where the latter requests a longer time limit.
11. ICP-ANACOM shall monitor the evolution of periods of time practiced in the scope of portability implementation, aiming to reduce it significantly in the interest of subscribers.
Article 13
Refusal of an electronic order
1. (…)
2. The DP may only refuse electronic portability requests in the following circumstances:
a) (...)
b) (...)
c) Where the number in the subscriber's identification document (Citizen Card, Identification Card, Residence Permit, Tax Number or Passport) in the portability order does not correspond to the one held by the DP for the telephone number(s) to be ported, or, in case these elements are absent in records of the DP, and thus may not be verified, and at the same time, the card holder's name does not correspond to the one in the DP's records for that (those) number(s), except for identifications with more than three names, in which case these three names must correspond to the DP records, in the same sequence;
d) (repealed)
e) If there is no SIM card, the SIM does not correspond to the MSISDN, or is lost or missing, in the case of numbers of the mobile telephone number;
f) (repealed)
g) (...)
h) (...)
3. In the situations referred in the preceding paragraph, the refusal is compulsory, and the cause must immediately be indicated.
4. (former paragraph 3).
5. In addition to the situations referred in paragraph 2, the DP may refuse electronic portability orders where, in compliance with the capacity minimum limit provided for in article 15, its real capacity has been exceeded.
6. The cause for refusal referred to in the preceding paragraph may only be used by the DP up to 1 January 2010.
7. (former paragraph 6).
8. (former paragraph 7).
Article 15
Capacity in number portability
1. Undertakings must have capacity for a given minimum per portability time frame, including portability and NRN modifications, which is initially set at 1500.
2. The minimum mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be reviewed on a monthly basis and must be increased by 30%, within one month at the most, where during the preceding 15 days the daily average of ported numbers was equal to or exceeded 70% of three times that amount.
3. (...)
4. Without prejudice to the preceding paragraphs, the DP shall reply to portability requests according to its real capacity, in order to ensure subscribers’ right to portability.
5. Provisions herein on capacity in number portability expire on 1 January 2010.
Article 16
Number return
1. The DP must recover the number by means of a number return process to be submitted to the RP by the RE within at the most 2 working days after the number has been deactivated.
2. (...)
3. Numbers that had been ported to the undertaking that cancels the service and that during the quarantine period are not applied for another provider shall be recovered by the DP, following the quarantine period, by means of an electronic notice given by the RE.
Article 17
MSN and DDI Portability
1. (...)
2. (...)
3. The DP must respond to the active configuration request, within at the most two working days from the date on which the request is sent, including the number and type of accesses, the MSN and DDI and the main PABX numbers as well as any other associated numbers.
The above-mentioned time limit shall comply with the following: a request sent by the RP by 6 p.m. on working day X must be replied to by the DP by 6 p.m. by working day X+2.
4. (...)
5. (...)
6. (...)
7. (...)
8. (...)
Article 18
Routing
1. (...)
2. (...)
a) (...)
b) (...)
c) Call with translation, in which the ported number is the ''physical'' number, which is the responsibility of the undertaking providing the translation service; however this responsibility may be transferred to the undertaking providing the support service.
3. (...)
4. An NRN number has the format DP1P2P3C1C2C3, with D (number with an hexadecimal format) being the service code (portability), P1P2P3 the undertaking code assigned by the regulatory authority and C1C2C3 the exchange code defined by the respective provider, undertakings being entitled, by mutual agreement, in the case of non-geographic numbering services (translation services), to match the non-geographic service access code under consideration or relevant network node to the C1C2C3 of the NRN.
5. (...)
6. (...)
Article 19
Costs
1. (...)
2. The administrative costs incurred per ported number may be recovered by the DP from the RP, and shall not exceed amounts provided for in the RIO.
3. (...)
Article 20
Prices
1. The price of a call to a ported number shall be defined by the traffic owner, pursuant to article 64, paragraph 3, of Law no. 5/2004 of 10 February.
2. It is incumbent upon ICP-ANACOM to monitor and supervise prices charged by RP to the respective subscribers for portability operations, so as to ensure that prices at retail level do not discourage subscribers who wish to benefit from portability.
Article 22
Provision of information
1. In order to verify the implementation of the measures provided for in articles 19, 20 and 21, as well as to monitor its effectiveness, undertakings must provide the regulatory authority the information specified in the following numbers.
2. Providers of mobile telephone services shall supply the following information:
a) Date of implementation of the online free message provided for in paragraph 1 of article 21, at least five working days ahead of the date on which the service becomes operational;
b) Number of complaints received per month concerning the implemented online message, which must be submitted by the 15th day following the end of each half-year;
c) Description of procedures to be adopted by calling subscribers to activate and deactivate the message provided for in paragraph 4 of article 21, which must be sent by the 15th day following the end of each half-year; where these procedures are amended, the regulatory authority shall be given an advance notice of at least five working days of amendments as well as of the date on which they take effect.
d) Number of subscribers of the undertaking who have deactivated the online message provided in paragraph 1 of article 21, which has been reported by the end of each half-hear and which must be sent by the 15th day following the end of that half-year;
e) [former point b)];
f) Indication, by the 15th day following the end of that half-year, of the number for accessing the customer service implemented by the undertaking for the provision of information on prices for calls to ported numbers, for the purpose of publication on ICP- ANACOM's website; if this number has been changed, the regulatory authority shall be given an advance notice of at least five working days of the new number as well as the date on which the service becomes operational;
g) Indication, with an advance notice of at least five working days, of the date on which the rate plans mentioned in point e) cease to be practiced, as well as of the date on which the information service established in article 21, paragraphs 6 and 7, ceases to be provided.
3. Providers of a fixed telephone service must submit the information mentioned in points e) to g) of the preceding paragraph.
4. Undertakings that have NNP numbers, assigned to their subscribers in secondary assignments and capable of portability and those that, through portability, receive numbers which are assigned as secondary numbers by other undertakings, shall submit to the regulatory authority, by the 15th day following the end of that half-year, updated information on:
a) Prices charged to subscribers, if any, for the portability operation and the respective method of payment, broken down by service and rate plan;
b) Wholesale prices, per type of ported number, that, charged to RP as HP, if any; this information must include also the details on any discounts (for example, according to the amount of ported numbers and size of blocks of contiguous numbers to be ported).
5. (...)
Article 23
Synchronization of processes
1. If the portability process and the local loop unbundling process occur at the same time, the electronic portability order shall be sent by the RP to the DP after the local loop eligibility and, where appropriate, qualification tests, have been confirmed according to time limits set out in the RUO.
2. (...)
3. (...)
4. (...)
5 . (...)
6. (...)
7. Where a portability order is associated to a loop return, the portability of a number and the loop return shall occur within the portability time frame, in situations where the HP does no longer use the loop to provide any service to customers.»
Article 2
Repeal
Article 28 of Regulation no. 58/2005 of 18 August is hereby repealed.
Article 3
Addition to Regulation no. 58/2005 of 18 August
Regulation no. 58/2005 of 18 August is hereby added article 25-A, in Chapter VII, which shall read as follows:
«Chapter VII
Monitoring, penalty system and compensation
Article 25-A
Compensation
1. The RP bears responsibility vis-à-vis subscribers and other participants in the portability process for portability orders made effective that do not match the will of subscribers - undue portability, which means the lack of correspondence between the one who placed the order and the ported number(s) as well as the forgery of the signature in the portability order or termination.
2. In the situations mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the RP:
a) Shall not require the subscriber to pay for any calls made, monthly amounts or penalties following the portability unduly made effective, and shall bear any costs regarding the return to the DP, unless the subscriber declares not to desire this return;
b) Shall compensate the DP, RE and other undertakings with portability obligations for all costs incurred as a result of undue portability orders made effective by reason of his act;
c) Shall pay the DP a compensation amounting to €100 for each number unduly ported for his exclusive responsibility, to a maximum of €5,000 per portability order made effective in case DDI ranges are ported;
d) Shall pay the subscriber a compensation of €20 per number and per each day the number is unduly ported, to a maximum of €5,000 per portability order;
3. Where the documents referred to in paragraph 3 of article 10 fail to be sent, the RP shall pay the DP a compensation amounting to €100 per number, to a maximum of €5,000 per portability order made effective in case DDI ranges are ported.
4. In case of a delay in the implementation of the portability of numbers of the mobile telephone service, relatively to the time limit defined in paragraph 10 of article 12, the RP shall pay the subscriber a compensation amounting to €2.5 per number, for each day of delay.
5. In case of interruption of the service provided to the subscriber through the ported number, in infringement of paragraph 2 of article 7, after the RE has made effective the portability order, the RP shall pay the subscriber a compensation amounting to €20, per number, for each day of interruption, to a maximum of €5,000 per portability order.
6. Where the DP is accountable for the undue portability referred to in points a) to d) of paragraph 2, for portability implementation delays or for the service interruption, provided for respectively in paragraphs 4 and 5 hereof, it must pay compensation to the RP for all costs the latter has incurred as a result of provisions contained herein, under the terms and time limit to be established by agreement, or, in the absence of an agreement, within a time limit which shall not exceed sixty days from the day on which the order was placed.
7. Where the undue portability is made effective through omission by the DP to verify the subscriber's data in the electronic portability order, costs mentioned in paragraph 2 shall be divided in equal shares between the RP and the DP, under the terms and time limit to be established by agreement, or, in the absence of an agreement, within a time limit which shall not exceed sixty days from the date of undue portability.
8. Payments due to the subscriber pursuant hereto do not require a previous request and shall be made effective in the following bill issued by the RP or, in the absence of a contractual relationship, through any direct means, namely bank transfer or check, within at the most 30 days from the fact that gave rise to the compensation.
9. The compensation regime provided for herein is without prejudice to the establishment of liability in general terms, as well as to the application of the portability penalty system.»
Article 4
Entry into force
1. Rules provided for herein take effect 10 working days after the date of publication, except for paragraph 2 of article 4, paragraph 9 of article 8, paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 of article 11, paragraphs 5, 7 and 10 of article 12, paragraphs 1 and 3 of article 16, paragraph 3 of article 17 and paragraph 4 of article 25-A.
2. Annexes I and II of the Portability Specification shall be reviewed and updated by undertakings with portability obligations and by the Reference Entity, under the coordination of ICP-ANACOM, and made available at this Authority's website within at the most two months from the publication of the Regulation.
3. This Regulation takes effect as a whole on the first Monday, 3 months from the publication of the annexes referred in the preceding paragraph in ICP-ANACOM's website, and undertakings with portability obligations must have networks and systems prepared for the enforcement of the Regulation.
Article 5
Republication
Regulation no. 58/2005 of 18 August is hereby republished and renumbered in annex.
4 February 2009. - The Chairman, José Amado da Silva
