Number portability service between mobile operators will be temporarily unavailable
19 December 2024 18:42
The National Commission for the State Regulation of Electronic Communications, Radio Frequency Spectrum and Postal Services has decided to temporarily suspend the system responsible for number portability between mobile operators for six hours from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. tomorrow, December 20. This is stated in the Commission’s report, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
In justifying this decision, the regulator referred to a letter from the Ukrainian State Center for Radio Frequencies (UCRF) regarding malfunctions in the ported number databases.
Providers of electronic communication services, i.e. mobile operators, were obliged to inform subscribers about the temporary suspension of number portability and resume the service from 08:30 on December 23.
Why the service is being suspended
on December 16, the Ukrainian State Center for Radio Frequencies recorded 17012 applications for number portability. This was reported by the agency’s press service in response to a request from Forbes. They emphasized that “this is almost four times the average daily load on the Central Database (CDB) for the entire period of the System’s operation.”
Such a load led to a slowdown in the work of the Central Database, an increase in the time for processing messages and the accumulation of queues for sending messages, which caused a slowdown in the processing of number portability, the press service of the Ukrainian State Center for Radio Frequencies said in a response.
It is emphasized that the increased load on the system is due to the desire of subscribers to change operators who have announced a sharp increase in tariffs.
For example, according to the press service of the UCRC, according to the Central Database administered by the Ukrainian State Center for Radio Frequencies, more than 10,000 Kyivstar subscribers and more than 2,800 Vodafone Ukraine subscribers transferred their numbers to lifecell between December 10 and 18.
What about the increase in tariffs by mobile operators
In early December, Kyivstar, the largest mobile operator, announced that it was raising its fees by 25% on average. In return, it promised to provide subscribers with more services and bonuses.
on December 16, Vodafone picked up the baton, warning that a number of its prepaid tariffs would change on December 24: their cost was to rise by UAH 70-120.
But the very next day, Vodafone decided to postpone the previously announced changes to the new tariffs.
At the same time, the company tried to explain why it had to change the tariffs. Among the factors that led to the change in the cost and content of the tariff plans this year, Vodafone named the rapid rise in electricity costs, additional costs for backup power, and repair of equipment damaged by the war. In addition, the company’s tax payments have increased.
