Mobile phone users in Bahrain will be able to change their operator without having to change their phone number from July 17, the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) said.

TRA information communication technology director Ahmed Aldoseri said the same facility would be available to fixed telephone line users, including WiMax subscribers, two months later.

This follows the appointment of Systor Intereurope Systems as the chosen solutions provider for the implementation and operation of the number portability central system.

He said administrative delays and some national events had meant the earlier May deadline for the portability to be implemented had not been met.

'We needed adequate time for testing the service by licensed operators and that is why it was delayed,' said Aldoseri.

He said Systor was an internationally reputed company and the TRA was happy to be working with them on a project of great significance.

'The TRA intends to implement a system that will enable subscribers to easily and freely port their numbers between licensed operators,' said Aldoseri. 'This is a major milestone and is expected to greatly stimulate competition in the market.'

He said the central system was a platform that coordinated the exchange of messages between licensed operators in order to smoothly conduct number portability operations for subscribers.

The system is being hosted by the Bahrain Internet Exchange (BIX), which facilitates ease of access by all operators.

BIX executive director Mohamed Al Thawadi said this was viable strategically for most operators as they were already having BIX services and could efficiently interconnect with the TRA system. – TradeArabia News Service