By Filane Mikee Cervantes/PNA
MANILA — Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday expressed his gratitude to President Rodrigo Duterte for signing into law a measure allowing mobile phone users to retain their numbers for life even when they switch service providers.
Duterte signed the Mobile Number Portability Act or Republic Act No. 11202 on February 14.
“Finally, the cellphone numbers we currently have can become ours for a lifetime. Dahil naisabatas na ang Mobile Portability Act, hindi na kailangang magpalit pa ng cellphone o mobile number kapag lumipat tayo ng network o kaya mula sa prepaid papuntang postpaid at postpaid papuntang prepaid (Since the Mobile Portability Act is now a law, we don’t need to change our mobile numbers when we switch to another network, or switch from postpaid to prepaid subscription or vice-versa),” Gatchalian said in a statement.
“I thank President Duterte for signing this landmark legislation and I congratulate everyone who worked tirelessly to make this a reality,” he added.
The senator said the signing of the new law before the start of the third telco’s operations will spur competition and break the duopoly in the telecom industry by removing a potential barrier for subscribers not to patronize the new entrant because they cannot keep the same mobile number.
Under the new law, subscribers can shift from one network to another without changing the number free of charge.
