Number portability projects starts in Bahrain

Bahrain’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has appointed consultants to its number portability project, who will advise the industry working group comprised of local mobile and fixed-line operators and key stakeholders.

The Strategic and Retail Market Review document, published in February this year, identified number portability as one of the key measures to improve competition in the kingdom and ensure subscribers’ choice is not hindered by unnecessary barriers such as transferring their existing number to a new service provider.

TRA’s technical advisor and number portability project manager Ahmed Aldoseri said the working group was an effort to build an open model of collaboration within the industry and key stakeholders.

“With the complex nature of transferring numbers between local operators, it is vital that all operators effectively participate in the drafting exercise of all number portability processes to ensure a successful implementation,” Aldoseri stated.

Mott MacDonald and Horrocks Technology (consortium) is the appointed consultant for the project.