Senator Win Gatchalian expressed his gratitude to President Rodrigo Duterte for signing into law a measure that allows subscribers to retain their mobile phone numbers for life even if they switch between service providers.
The President on Feb. 14 signed the Mobile Number Portability Act or Republic Act No. 11202.
“Finally, the cellphone numbers we currently have can become ours for a lifetime. Dahil naisabatas na ang Mobile Portability Act, hindi na kailangang magpalit pa ng cellphone o mobile number kapag lumipat tayo ng network o kaya mula sa prepaid papuntang postpaid at postpaid papuntang prepaid (Since the Mobile Portability Act is now a law, we don’t need to change our mobile numbers when we switch to another network, or switch from postpaid to prepaid subscription or vice-versa),” Gatchalian said in a statement.
“We don’t need to change our mobile numbers when we switch to another network.”
“I thank President Duterte for signing this landmark legislation and I congratulate everyone who worked tirelessly to make this a reality,” Gatchalian added.
“I thank President Duterte for signing this landmark legislation.”
The legislator said the signing of the new law will spur competition and break the duopoly in the telecom industry by removing a potential barrier for subscribers not to patronize the country’s third telcos player because they cannot keep the same mobile numbers.
Under the new law, subscribers can shift from one network to another without changing their mobile numbers for free.
