To mark the upcoming Government Week (Aug. 23-29) in Iran, the mobile number portability plan was launched nationwide on Sunday.
With the official launch of the plan, restrictions in place during the pilot phase of the MNP project will all be lifted, local technology website ICTNA reported.
MNP enables cellphone users to retain their numbers while changing from one mobile network operator to another and its pilot phase was launched in mid-July.
At the launch held on Sunday, Ali Asghar Amidian, the head of Iran’s Communications Regulatory Authority, said MNP services were launched in Iran to improve service quality among operators and uphold the rights of customers.
“The plan is expected to help improve competitiveness among Iran’s mobile phone operators,” he said.
Currently, three major mobile phone operators are delivering services in Iran, namely Mobile Telecommunications Company of Iran or Hamrah-e-Aval, MTN Irancell and RighTel.
During the pilot phase, Iran’s mobile phone operators offered the service to a maximum 500 users per day. The pilot phase was rolled out mainly to detect the bugs in the system, which have been removed in time for its full launch.