Latest update March 17th, 2025 2:24 AM
Latest News
- EITI urges Govt. to show how money from extractive sector is being used
- ExxonMobil agrees to pay 10% taxes, 10% royalty for small oil blocks
- US deports hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members despite court order
- 4 Guyanese arrested after 6.3 tonnes of cocaine found on Guyana-flagged vessel off West African Coast
- Guyana’s oil exports skyrocket—and Europe’s refiners love it
Customers can now change networks and retain their numbers-PUC
Kaieteur News- The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on Saturday announced that customers can now benefit from number portability in Guyana from February 10, 2025. This simply means that customers can now switch networks but there will be no need for a new number.
The official launch of this service will be shared in a subsequent announcement after the identified date.
Customers can now change networks and retain their numbers-PUC
In a statement to the media the PUC said that “As subscribers in the telecommunications sector may be aware, number portability allows both fixed-line and mobile subscribers to switch their services to other service providers whilst retaining their existing phone numbers.”
The service is designed to foster competition within the telecommunications sector offering consumers greater freedom to choose their providers. It also marks a crucial step in enhancing the quality of service offered to consumers and it will also drive innovation in the telecommunications industry.
“This milestone is a direct result of the liberalization of the telecommunications sector on October 5, 2020, and the subsequent issuance of the Telecommunications (Commencement of Number Portability Obligations) Order on July 1, 2021, by the Honourable Prime Minister, Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips,” the PUC said.
Under the directive of the Prime Minister, the Commission was tasked with ensuring the smooth implementation of number portability. Therefore, the Number Portability Working Group (NPWG) was established in August 2021. This group, chaired by the Commission, included representatives from the telecommunications service providers and the Telecommunications Agency.
The PUC explained in its statement that, “The NPWG has held weekly meetings to oversee the various testing phases that are critical to the service’s success. A dedicated technical subgroup, comprising project managers and technical leads from the service providers, was also formed to address specific challenges and ensure seamless system integration across all networks.”
Some of the key accomplishments of the NPWG include the development and approval of the Business Rules. This outlines guidelines for operationalised “number portability and the contracting of PXS B.V, a clearinghouse provider from the Netherlands, which has been licensed by the Telecommunications Agency to provide number portability administration services in Guyana.”
Furthermore, “The PUC and the telecommunications service providers have been engaged in numerous technical testing scenarios to ensure a seamless transition for subscribers and that all technical aspects of the service are functional as intended when it goes ‘live’ on February 10, 2025. The end result of this is to successfully implement number portability, a service that will be beneficial to all users of telecommunications services in Guyana.”
Persons who want to change their network provider will need to visit a retail store of the preferred service provider and request the porting of the telephone number completing the relevant porting forms. A valid form of identification is required. Mobile porting typically takes 1 business day while fixed-line porting is expected to take 5 business days.
For further information on the complete porting process and for answers to frequently asked questions, subscribers may visit the Public Utilities Commission’s website at www.puc.org.gy and its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pucgy. Alternatively, subscribers may contact the Commission during business hours at telephone numbers 226-7042/ 227-2182/336-6077 and via WhatsApp at 623-3222/ 624-6000 for further details.
(Customers can now change networks and retain their numbers-PUC)
(change networks)
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
In bucketfuls of it
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- It was a great economist, who, when asked about the fate of a nation’s economy, famously... more
If Guyana’s President Ali is the “Zelensky of the Caribbean”, who is the Putin?
Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the US and the OAS, Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- In the latest... more
Weekend Cartoon
