Local Number Portability begins next month

Wayne Hull, the general manager of FLOW says that consumers with cellular phones will be able to move their voice services to another provider within the same country, while retaining their current number, as soon as next month.

Hull, while speaking at a press briefing last Wednesday, said that the company signed an agreement on November 6, which in effect has activated the contract for local number portability (LNP).

LNP is allows subscribers of fixed and mobile networks to move their voice services to another provider within the same country, while retaining their current number.

“If you have a Digicel number and you want to move to FLOW, you can bring that number over to FLOW and have a service activated at FLOW,” the general manager said. “We have tested it already and its working fine. There are a little bit of hiccups here and there and testing that we’re looking to do with the international…because you still have to be able to use that number internationally as well so there is some testing going on in that area.”

Hull also said that he estimates that FLOW will launch LNP in early December.

In September, the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) named November 19 as the launch date LNP in its member states.

These member states are Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines.