Mobile phone service started in the early 1990s in the Philippines. Since then, millions of Filipinos have acquired cellphones, each with a unique phone number. 

During the early days of analog network technology and even later when the mobile phone system transitioned to digital, people who wanted to change mobile service providers (MSPs) had to get new phone numbers. 

When the prepaid services came out, people changed their phone numbers easily and conveniently by buying a new SIM card like candy from a sari-sari store. 

But with smartphones, which can do almost as much work as a computer, subscribers tend to hold on to their phone numbers by sticking with their phone companies, no matter how crappy their experience has been with them. 

They want to keep their phone directories intact and not go through the inconvenience of informing each and every contact that they had a new number from a new telecommunications company (telco) that somehow gives better service. 

MNP law 

A law passed in 2018 now allows people to use the same phone numbers they have even if they moved to another telco. The Mobile Number Portability (MNP) Act was launched on Sept. 30, 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Philippines, despite its reputation of being the “text capital” of the world in the early 2000s, is a late-comer in this respect. Nearby Singapore, whose cellular phone service started a few years earlier than the Philippines, launched MNP in 1997. 

With MNP, you not only avoid having to inform so many people that you have a new number, you’re also spared from the inconvenience of updating your phone apps such as electronic wallets or payments, e-banking, shopping, email and other verifications, etc. which are all linked to your number. 

“The consumers will have freedom of choice, and they will get to keep their numbers,” said Melanie Manuel, general manager of Telecommunications Connectivity Inc. (TCI), the joint venture established by the country’s three telcos—Dito Telecommunity, Globe Telecom and Smart Communications—that acts as a “clearinghouse” for the smooth switching from one telco to the next.  

In addition, MNP will encourage competition among the telcos or MSPs to improve their services in order to retain their subscribers, she said in an interview. 

“This is beneficial because obviously when you’re a consumer, you want to have the best network, you want to have the best customer experience, and you want to avail of the best products and services,” according to Manuel. 

Consumer choices 

This empowers consumers to choose the best service provider for them, she said. 

She explains that porting is as easy as 1-2-3 and it’s free: 

• Get a unique subscriber code, or USC, from your current network (called the donor). 

• Submit that to the network you want to transfer to (called the recipient) with the porting application. 

• Wait for the activation of the new SIM. By law, this should be done in 48 hours, from application to activation, excluding delivery of the new SIM, unless you get it yourself. 

The only condition required is that all your current payments have been settled and are no longer in the telco’s “lock-in” period.   

Multiple porting is allowed as long as these are each done after at least 60 days. The law also directs phone companies to unlock the phone you obtained from them after the contract period expires. 

Manuel doesn’t believe that the success or failure of number porting can immediately be measured by how many have opted to use the feature. If a subscriber thinks this satisfies his or her needs, “then that’s a success for us,” she said. 

“But we believe that not everybody needs porting. If you’re happy with your network, there’s no need to port,” she said. “So, if you’re happy and you want to be happier, you think another network would make you happier, then switching may be for you.” 

Enhancing competition 

“MNP enhances competition. But it doesn’t just depend on the products and services. It also depends on how the companies market MNP,” Manuel said. 

She said she did not have empirical evidence to show that MNP has been the reason the telcos have been continuously improving their services, products, and customer service. 

“But it’s actually a factor,” Manuel said. 

The more “established players,” she said, want to hold on to their customers, make sure they are satisfied and keep their “loyalty” by continuously improving their services as challengers emerge to attract those customers by offering “competitive packages.” 

“So, you know, I think the MNP would always keep the telcos on their toes because they do not want to lose customers,” she said. 

The MNP law’s implementing rules require all the telcos to inform their customers about the porting. 

She said the telcos can do it in a way that would not “disadvantage them.” 

“They can probably say, okay, MNP is about switching networks. Why don’t you tell your friends to join you,” she said. 

The important thing is for the telcos to let their subscribers know that MNP is here for them, and they can avail of it anytime when they need it, to benefit them. 

From the looks of it, however, MNP can be a means to poach customers. But for Manuel, with or without the MNP, the telcos would make every effort to gain more customers through marketing and other campaigns. 

“So, I’m sure that similar to other industries, telcos may try to steal them from one another or poach from one another. But MNP is not about poaching,” she said. “It’s really not.”

“It’s about giving the customers the freedom of choice based on network quality, price, products and customer experience. … At the end of the day, subscribers will choose the network that fits their needs,” she added. 

Manuel said that for almost four years since the launch, there hasn’t been any fraudulent activities linked to MNP as tight security and data privacy policies had been put in place. 

Mobile subscriber base 

Based on the latest available quarterly disclosures from the MSPs, there are 133.2 million mobile phone subscribers in the Philippines, more than the country’s total population of around 115 million. This is largely due to the fact that many Filipinos have multiple SIM cards. 

Dito has a subscriber base of 13 million, or 9.8% (Q3 2024), Globe has 61.6 million, 46.2% (Q1 2025) and Smart has 58.6 million, 44.0% (Q1 2025). 

For more information about MNP, you may visit TCI’s website at www.tcimnp.com.ph.