Telecommunications officials are preparing to empanel telephone companies to decide how to implement number portability.
Number portability is a system that enables consumers who are unhappy with their telephone company to move to a new company but keep their old telephone number, without penalties or service disruptions.
Number portability has been credited globally with boosting competition, reducing prices, bringing new services to market faster and forcing a wholesale re-examination of business strategies.
A seven-month Information and Communications Technology Authority study of number portability that ended 29 March all but endorsed the concept outright, citing its numerous benefits as making such a system almost indispensable.
‘The Authority can determine that the benefits accruing from the introduction of (number portability) are substantial,’ the 31-page study concluded, ‘and that in every other jurisdiction that has studied the issue, they have been sufficient to outweigh the costs of its introduction.
‘In the Authority’s view, this is more than sufficient justification for the establishment of a process to rapidly identify the most appropriate implementation method for the Cayman Islands,’ the document said.
Panel recommendations
The Authority plans to invite Cayman’s five licensees to join an ICTA panel that will recommend, within two months, the best way to start the system.
The five are led by long-time service provider Cable & Wireless, followed by Digicel, Cingular, TeleCayman and CaymanOne.
One month after the panel convenes, it will report on how much the implementation will cost per subscriber.
Three months after that, each of the five licensees will report on its own costs for implementing the system.
While the document carefully avoids prejudging panel conclusions, ICTA’s position is nonetheless clear:
‘The introduction of local number portability brings internationally recognized benefits to all consumers, not just those who choose to make use of the facility. The authority is therefore minded to mandate its introduction in the Cayman Islands unless the costs prove to be prohibitive.
‘The Authority does not yet have sufficient information on costs to determine whether a particular form of (number portability) should be mandated in the Cayman Islands.
‘However, the benefits are sufficient to fully justify the expenditure of sufficient resources to obtain the necessary data within a reasonable time frame,’ the document said.
Concerns aired
In the seven-month study, both Cable & Wireless and Digicel expressed doubt about number portability.
C&W said the system was unnecessary, complex and expensive.
Digicel called for further research, saying it was too early to introduce portability in a newly liberalised market; that consumer demand may be insufficient and that quick introduction could confuse investors.
The report noted, however, that incumbent operators in any market usually resisted the changes that inevitably follow number portability.
The report does not deny that costs will be incurred, but says they vary enormously depending on who is asked and the particular technology the system employs.
Additionally, it observes, an operator can chose to pass those costs to consumers or absorb them
‘There is serious disagreement among licensees as to the order of magnitude of costs generally,’ it says.
‘It is clear to the Authority that the record on the costs involved is conflicting, not sufficiently supported with empirical data and insufficient for a conclusive understanding by the Authority.
‘It is abundantly clear the coasts will be impacted by the particular system selected.’
Cost considerations
A spokesman for Cable & Wireless said the company looked forward to joining the panel.
Cingular Wireless general manager, Raul Nicholson-Coe, said he supported portability, although costs needed careful assessment.
‘Cingular Wireless will actively participate in any discussions related to the implementation of number portability in the Cayman Islands,’ he said.
John Robertson, CEO of CaymanOne, the island’s newest telecommunications operator, said he embraced portability.
‘We have given our proposals to the Authority and our equipment supports number portability, although we have made plans in case it doesn’t happen,’ he said. ‘But it probably just needs someone to go in and make it happen.’
ICTA General Counsel and Head of Licencing Greg van Koughnett cautioned that the Authority would move carefully, and that portability might still be some time away.
‘The report sets out some pretty tight deadlines, and things always take a little longer than expected.
‘It’s my guess that it we’re going to be into next year before we get this thing turned around.’
Related Videos
