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Lemak Lemang

A walk down the Yellow Brick Road of Malaysia's Corridor of the future

by Jeff Ooi, Malaysia

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Switching numbers: Is it for real?

Jan 15, 2007 11:41

The idea of portability of mobile phone numbers is making the rounds again after three years of hearsay.

After several false starts in announcing the implementation of Mobile Number Portability (MNP)--where mobile users can switch network providers without changing their phone numbers--Energy, Water and Communications Minister Dr Lim Keng Yaik said the facility will be implemented by June.

The minister also said the MNP implementation will be managed by an "independent third party". Though many names with international links have been heard as potential contenders, thus far there has been no public tender called to determine the independent manager.

When the idea of MNP was first mooted three years ago in 2004, it was said that the fiercest resistance came from the operators which feared erosion of their captive customer base.

As a result, the implementation timeline scheduled for 2005 was derailed as there was a call for more research. The implementation of number portability critically needs the support of all three cellular network operators, namely Maxis, Celcom and Digi.

This time around, the minister was heard saying that operators which do not cooperate would be penalized. At this point in time, details of the penalty are still being finalized.

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About Jeff Ooi

Jeff Ooi is an Internet and e-Business consultant based in Kuala Lumpur who's spent the last four years blogging internationally on the tech scene, on anything and nothing. Which doesn't really explain why most of his own technology is about three years out of date. He doesn't even own a PDA after his Palm V crashed. He's on 3G, though... Lemak Lemang refers to coconut-flavored sticky rice stuffed in a bamboo container.