• TRCSL anticipates introducing facility by Q4 2024
• Public concerns evaluated as telco consortium approaches final stages
• Drafted rules and guidelines submitted to the AG’s Dept. 
• Telco consortium set to manage clearing processes, porting facilities

The process for the issuance of a licence to the telecommunications consortium is nearing an end, according to the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL). 

Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, TRCSL Deputy Director (Numbering) Vishakha Kapuduwage revealed that the telecommunications consortium had already applied to the TRCSL for a licence and that the licensing process was almost at an end.

“The licensing process is almost at an end. We have published a public notice and are currently evaluating the concerns received from the public,” she said. 

Accordingly, she revealed that they were highly optimistic about being able to introduce the number portability facility by the fourth quarter of 2024.

Kapuduwage shared that the drafting of the rules and guidelines related to the number portability facility had been completed and had been submitted to the Attorney General’s (AG) Department for approval.

She said: “We have submitted the rules and guidelines related to the number portability facility to the AG’s Department and are now awaiting approval. We have had a discussion with the department, where we were informed that they had certain recommendations. Once we received the recommendations, we obtained approval following discussions with the telecom operators. The process is now almost at an end.”

A telecommunications consortium of telecommunications operators was established in 2022 to handle the clearing processes and porting facilities of the proposed number portability facility. 

Number portability, which enables the switching of mobile and fixed line numbers across competing service providers, is a customer facility widely practised internationally and is a key facet of a liberalised telecommunications market.

This service was introduced as early as the mid-1990s in Hong Kong, the US, Canada, and Europe and also in several developed Asian countries such as Singapore in 1997 and Pakistan in 2006.