Mobile number portability tender ready

TIRANA, September 1 – The Electronic and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP) has announced it will hold an international tender at the end of September to offer the mobile number portability, a service enabling mobile phone users to retain their numbers when switching from one mobile operator to another.
In an announcement published on its website, the Authority said the tender on the “purchase of a reference centralized database on number portability, the provision of the number portability service and the maintaining of the system” will be held on September 29, when the bid opening takes place on the official public procurement agency’s website www.app.gov.al.
The winning operator will have to register at the National Registration Center and pay all taxes in force.
With more than one year from the expiry of the legal deadline, the mobile number portability, has not been offered yet in Albania. The concern is raised by Transparency International Albania, and the Citizens’ Advocacy Office (CAO), two watchdogs which few weeks ago sent an open letter to Electronic and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP) asking detailed information on when the service will be made available.
The implementation of this service in other countries has considerably lowered tariffs because of increased competition among mobile operators. Its launch in Albania is expected to have the same effects.
The law approved in May 2008 foresees that mobile operators should give the opportunity to their subscribers to port their number when choosing another company.
Article 137 of the law foresees even fines from 4 to 7 percent of the annual income for operators not offering the number portability service to their customers.
The law, which obliges AKEP to guarantee the service under a special regulation determining its application and deadlines, is considered an EU standard, protecting consumers’ rights and interests. The service is currently offered in all EU 27 member countries but not yet in Albania, a potential EU candidate country awaiting the opinion of the European Commission on its readiness to comply with the EU membership criteria.
The consumer protection is also foreseen in article 76 of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) Albania has signed with the European Union, in force since April.