What is number portability?

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Number portability, also known as Mobile Number Portability (MNP) for mobile services and Local Number Portability (LNP) for landlines, is a telecommunications regulatory feature that allows subscribers to retain their existing phone number when switching from one service provider to another.

Before number portability was widely implemented, if you wanted bahrain number database to change your mobile network operator (e.g., from Grameenphone to Robi in Bangladesh, or from AT&T to T-Mobile in the US) or your landline provider, you would inevitably have to get a new phone number. This created a significant barrier for customers who had built up a long history with their number, had it printed on business cards, or used it for numerous online accounts.

How Number Portability Works:
The exact process can vary slightly by country, but generally follows these steps:

Initiation by the Subscriber: The customer decides to switch providers and contacts the new provider they wish to move to.
Porting Request: The customer informs the new provider that they want to keep their existing number (port it over). They provide necessary details, including their current phone number, current account information, and sometimes a specific authorization code (like a Porting Authorization Code (PAC) in the UK or a Unique Porting Code (UPC) in India and Bangladesh).
Inter-operator Communication: The new provider (the "recipient" or "gaining" operator) then initiates a request to the customer's current provider (the "donor" or "losing" operator). This is typically an automated, back-end communication between the networks through a central database or designated system.
Verification and Approval: The donor operator verifies that the porting request is legitimate (e.g., the number belongs to the requesting customer, there are no outstanding contractual obligations or issues that would prevent porting, like unpaid bills). In many countries, the donor operator cannot refuse a porting request simply because the customer has outstanding debt; however, the customer may still be liable