Social media active Filipinos will soon be inseparable from their phones in a totally different way.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has approved Republic Act 11202 or the “Mobile Number Portability Act,” a law that allows mobile phone users to keep their numbers forever.
The law was signed on Feb. 8 but it was only made public by the presidential palace Malacañang yesterday.
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Ideally, this would allow users to decide whether or not to switch service providers or plans without worrying about changing their phone numbers. Instead, they can make their decision based on factors like the quality and price of a plan.
In turn, this could encourage telcos to compete with each other in providing the best services. At the moment, there are only two major telcos in the Philippines — Globe Telecom and Smart Communications.
Users often move to the other service provider depending on the rates and promotions offered. Some also shift from a pre-paid plan to a post-paid plan or vice versa depending on their budget. However, they are not able to retain their phone numbers when undergoing these changes.
That is until now.
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The law requires telcos to allow “qualified subscribers” to keep their numbers for free when switching service providers or plan types.
This was generally met with positive reactions among Filipinos, many of whom are glued to their phones.
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