Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Ernest Ndukwe, has assured Nigerians that the commission would commence implementation of number porting across networks before the end of the year.

Ndukwe gave the assurance recently at a leadership lecture organised by Leadership and Role Model Foundation (LRMF) in Lagos.

Although Ndukwe's tenure ends in April 2, 2010, he was optimistic that the commission would begin its implementation before the end of the year, giving the level of work already done by consultants handling the project.

According to him, "the consultants are working and NCC is serious about its implementation."

Ndukwe called on Nigerians to exercise some patience, even though subscribers of some countries of the world are already enjoying the service. "Implementation of number porting takes quite some time, since all operators must be technically ready for its implementation," Ndukwe said, adding that intensive discussions and agreement must be reached, in order to have hitch-free implementation.

Number portability is a service that enables telephone users to retain their existing telephone numbers when they switch from one operator to another. A subscriber to MTN may decide to make calls using Globacom network, while still retaining its MTN number, if the subscriber is not satisfied with MTN network service and vis visa. It becomes easy for subscribers to roam from one network of choice to another, while still retaining their original numbers, thus eliminating the problem of carrying more than one handset as it is the case with most Nigerians.

The idea to commence number portability system was first introduced by the NCC in 2007, but telecom operators advised NCC to give them enough time to upgrade their facilities and make them ready for its implementation.

Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), who gave insight to the issues surrounding number portability, said in a telephone interview that the idea of number portability was a welcome development, but insisted that its implementation would take some time because of some technical issues that needed to be addressed. According to him, "the issue of number portability goes beyond a plug and play issue, and a lot of technical matters have to be resolved before its eventual implementation."

Operators, he said, had to agree on so many issues like revenue sharing, interconnectivity, data flow, billing methods and robust infrastructure.

He advised that there should be stakeholders meeting where all operators will agree on the modalities on number portability. Some networks, he said were ready for the implementation, and that some are not yet ready.

MTN' Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ahmmad Farroukh who aligned with Adabayo's position on number portability, said the network operators must be fully ready before embarking on the service.

One Number Portability, Farroukh said, was introduced in the United Kingdom (UK) years after GSM was launched. South Africa launched One Number Portability in 2006 after the launch of GSM in 1994.

"Technically, the One Number Portability is challenging and operators in Nigeria have to be technically ready for the rollout of One Number Portability. The One Number Portability will actually come in due time, there should be no rush to it in order to get it right", Farroukh advised.

Telecom stakeholders had argued at a meeting in 2007 that enough time be given them for the proper implementation of the number portability.

Although all telecom operators agreed that the introduction of number portability to the Nigerian telecom market was desirable, they are yet to decide when and how to go about it.

Ndukwe believes that number portability will help foster greater and fair competition and compel operators to provide better quality of service.