Globul Accuses M-Tel of Hindering Number Portability

Business | October 11, 2010, Monday // 20:27
Bulgaria: Globul Accuses M-Tel of Hindering Number Portability Photo by argogroup-exact.com

Bulgaria's two largest mobile phone operators M-Tel and Globul became tangled in a new dispute over who is obstructing the proper implementation of number portability services.

Globul announced Monday it has filed a complaint with the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) against M-Tel because the latter allegedly tried to prevent certain clients from switching to Globul's services.

Globul cites the case of Quadrant Beverages, the distributor of Pepsi for Bulgaria, which at the beginning of September filed a request with M-Tel for the transfer of 198 corporate mobile phone numbers to Globul.

Globul says that under the existing legislation M-Tel was supposed to issue a reply within two days; however, it has failed to do so ever since because of "technical problems". At the same time, M-Tel is said to have committed a second violation by targeting Quadrant Beverages with "aggressive offers" under the condition that they give up their request to switch to Globul.

Globul says it deems such practices a serious violation of the number portability procedure and accuses M-Tel of creating unfounded obstacles to the free access of clients to the one-stop number portability service.

Globul urges the CRC to sanction M-Tel and to decree the implementation of the legislation with respect to cases such as the one with Quadrant Beverages.

Monday's accusation appear to be one more episode in the war among Bulgaria's three mobile telephone operatorsM-Tel, Globul, and Vivacom – over who is to blame for delays in the implementation of number portability regulations.

The one-stop-shop number portability procedure was formally introduced on August 6, 2010, in order to help customers who want to change their operator but keep their number. The previously existing procedure had been considered too cumbersome, and allowing the mobile companies to prevent their unsatisfied clients from leaving them.

The major novelty in the procedure is the fact that the client is now required to apply for number portability only with the receiving operator, which is supposed to take care of the entire transaction, while earlier the consumer was supposed to deal with both companies.

In September, the head of the Bulgarian mobile phones regulator, the Communications Regulation Commission, Veselin Bozhkov, announced that any problems with the number portability procedure between the three mobile phone operators would be fixed by October 1, 2010.

The CRC said that it had received 73 complaints from clients about the procedure after its introduction on August 6. It has threatened to impose fines of up to BGN 100 000 to the companies which violate the legislation.

"The problem is that M-Tel as well as BTC (aka Vivacom) and partly Globul all have technical difficulties with this procedure even though we gave them a four-month period to adjust to that. I would say that all telecoms are trying to cheat using various ways and means," Bozhkov declared.

In his words, 31 of the consumer complaints were against Mtel, while each Globul and Vivacom faced 20 complaints.

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Tags: Veselin Bojkov, Veselin Bozhkov, CRC, Communications Regulation Commission (CRC), Vivacom, Globul, M-Tel, mobile operators, mobile phones, number portability, telecom, telecommunications, Quadrant Beverages Bulgaria

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