ISLAMABAD: The Pakis­tan Telecommunication Au­­thority (PTA) has extended training and technical support to the Telecom­mu­nica­tions Regulatory Commis­sion of Sri Lanka for successful implementation of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in the country.

The Sri Lankan regulator has planned to introduce MNP for mobile phone users in the country and intends to follow processes adopted by the PTA.

Pakistan is the first country in South Asia to have introduced this facility for its mobile phone users in 2007.

The MNP is a service through which a mobile phone user can change his network without changing the number.

The MNP has put pressure on mobile phone operators in Pakistan to improve their service and encouraged the companies to improve the quality of service.

At the same time the key technical challenge to the MNP is to ensure smooth transfer calls.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2021