MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 1
Introduction to Number Portability
Types of Number Portability Routing of Calls, SMS in Post MNP scenario Routing of Calls, SMS in Post MNP scenario Agenda Architecture of MNP adopted for India Summary MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 2 Introduction (1/4) Number Portability (NP) offers the subscriber the flexibility to retain his telephone number even when he switches to another operator in a service area. Today, Subscribers are not changing subscription: even if the competitor is offering lower tariff and better services because they do not want to change their number. Changing ones telephone numbers can be a major inconvenience The absence of NP may give the incumbent operators a significant competitive advantage over new entrants. MNP will also help to retain their number to have 3G services from a service provider other than present one serving to him. The subscribers and operators both would benefit from the introduction of the number portability system MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 3 Introduction (2/4) 60-80% go because of tariff plan 5-15% go because of VAS and CUG related reasons 19% of customers have problems with mobile coverage at home MNP-Liberation of Mobile Customer WHO IS LOOKING FOR CHANGE MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 4 Introduction (3/4) It will change the market dynamics The perception of ownership of customer will have a paradigm shift. New innovations will be needed for keeping customer attached to service Enterprise business will be the key target and will face intense competition MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 5 Introduction (4/4) As per TRAI, "MNP allows mobile subscriber to change their service provider while retaining their subscriber number. Therefore, MNP will benefit subscribers and increase the level of competition, rewarding operators with the best customer service, coverage, and service quality. MNP is firstly introduced in December-99 in US, As of Early 2010 MNP is available in about 60 countries worldwide. MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 6 What NP would mean to subscribers & service providers? When fully implemented nationwide by both wireline and wireless providers, portability will remove one of the most significant deterrents to changing service, providing unprecedented convenience for consumers and encouraging unrestrained competition in the telecommunications industry. In short, this is the best method to increase the efficiency of the service provider by increasing the competition, thereby ensuring better services in all respects. From the subscribers perspective, this is a deceptively simple and very welcome change, because No worry to notify friends, family and business contacts for change Eliminates the hassle and expenses of changing business cards, stationery, invoices and other materials for businesses. MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 7 Types of Number portability (1/2) Number portability can be of different types. Location-based: This enables a mobile subscriber to use the same number when shifting from one geographical area to another. Operator-based: This makes it possible for a mobile subscriber (or a fixed telephony subscriber) to shift from one mobile (or a fixed) service provider to another in the same area and retain his original number too. Service-based: Enables subscribers of a company to use the same numbers across different mobile technologies Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) based Wireless in Local Loop (WLL)and 3G networks. Convergence-based: Allows usage of the same number while shifting from fixed to mobile telephony. MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 8 Types of Number portability (2/2) Total number portability: Enables usage of the same number across different technologies, geographical regions and national boundaries and is the ultimate aim of number portability. It will also be the most difficult to implement and would require a collaborated effort on the global scale among different service providers. It will be a combination of different types of portability options. MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 9 Number Portability Technologies (1/6) A significant technical aspect of MNP is related to the routing of calls or mobile messages (SMS, MMS) to a number once it has been ported. 3GPP TS 23.066 has given technical specification for mobile number portability. There are various flavours of call routing implementation across the globe. There are four main methods to route a number whose operator has changed All Call Query (ACQ) Query on Release (QoR) Call Dropback Onward Call Routing MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 10 Number Portability Technologies (2/6) Orig. DB Old SP New SP 1 2 Number Porting All Call Query Centralized All Call Query (ACQ) International best practice is via the use of a central database (CDB) of ported numbers. Network operators generally hold local copies of CDB and query it to find out which network to send a call to. This is highly efficient and scalable.
MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 11 Network solutions for MNP (2/2) ACQ(All Call Query) in the next step Originating Network 8) Ack[MSRN] 6) PRN[MN] 10) Paging and Term L_NPDB 2) Query[DN] 3) query result [DN,RN] 1) Call Origination Donor Network A 9) ISUP Setup B 4) IAM[RN,DN] 5) SRI[MN] 7) Ack[MSRN] Recipient Network GMSC HLR MSC MSC B Most efficient when the ported subscribers are a lot. (when more than about 40 %)
Each carrier can decide when to start the ACQ depending on its traffic for the originating calls.
No loss of the number resource. MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 12 Number Portability Technologies (3/6) Orig. DB Donor SP New SP 3 4 Query on Release 1 2 release w/o # Centralized Old SP Number Porting Query on Release (QoR) Originating network routes the call to Donor Network. The Donor Network releases call in case of ported subscriber and informs that it no longer possesses the number. The operator that originates the call then checks the centralized database, as is done with ACQ. The call is routed to New Service Provider
MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 13 Network solutions for MNP (1/2) QoR(Query on Release) in the first step Very efficient when the ported subscribers are small.
Mandatory for the Donor network to response to the request for the ported number.
No loss of the number resource.
Originating Network HLR 12) Ack[MSRN] 10) RR[MIN] 14) Paging and Term L_NPDB 6) Query[DN] 7) query result [DN,RN] 1) Call Origination GMSC Donor Network A 13) ISUP Setup 2) IAM[DN] 3) PRN[DN] 4)Ack[ported] 5) REL[ported] B 8) IAM[RN,DN] 9) PRN[DN] 11) Ack[MSRN] Recipient Network GMSC HLR MSC MSC B MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 14 Number Portability Technologies (4/6) Orig. DB New SP 2 4 1 3 release w/t # External or integrated Donor SP Old SP Number Porting Call Dropback Also known as Return to Pivot (RoP). The operator that originates the call first checks with the donor operator. The donor operator checks its own database and provides a new route. The operator that originates the call then uses this route to forward the call. No central database is consulted. MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 15 Number Portability Technologies (5/6) Orig. DB New SP 2 3 1 External or integrated Old SP Number Porting Donor SP Onward Routing (OR) The operator that originates the call checks with the donor operator. The donor operator checks its own database and obtains a new route. The operator to which the number was designated routes itself the call to the new operator. This model is called indirect routing MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 16 Components of the MNP Solution (1/3)
a. MNP Clearing House (MCH)- Production & Disaster Recovery site b. Number Portability Data Base (NPDB)- Production & Disaster Recovery Site c. Query Response Database (QRDB)- Production & Disaster Recovery site d. Storage server e. Web server f. Report Generation server g. O&M server h. Others- Routers, switches etc.
a. Local operator DB query response system b. Number Portability operator Gateway To be Provided by MNP Service Provider To be procured, installed, operated, maintained by respective telecom service providers in their network MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 17 MCH NPDB Operat or A Local DB NP-OG Operat or B Local DB NP-OG Operat or C Local DB NP-OG Operat or D Local DB NP-OG Operat or A Local DB NP-OG Operat or B Local DB NP-OG Operat or C Local DB NP-OG Operat or D Local DB NP-OG LSA-A LSA-B QRDB-A Components of MNP MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 18 Components of the MNP Solution (2/3) MCH is a centralized system used by operators to port subscribers. NPDB shall maintain a record of all ported number and a history file of all transactions relating to the porting of a number. QRDB provides real-time routing information to enable the Operator to route calls and messages to ported numbers. The QRDB is queried by all of the Operator networks during call setup to provide the routing number, based on the dialed number. Routing information is downloaded from the NPDB to the QRDB to which queries may be based on SS7 and/or IP protocols (ENUM, DNS and SIP). Depending on the deployment option, the QR database can either be used by an individual Operator or be a common resource for use by all Operator networks or mix of both local and centralized DB in sync. MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 19 Components of the MNP Solution (3/3) NP gateways at operators end: MNP operator gateway is an operator based work flow system for processing and managing MNP port transaction with the centralized clearing house and operator back-end systems, e.g. order and provisioning system. The gateway will accept port requests, pass them on to the centralized clearinghouse, and coordinate ported number updates from the clearing house to back-end systems in the operators network.
MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 20 Database Management for MNP Logically Centralized Database with regionally located databases is setup and managed by neural third party setup by operators or national administrator may issue license to operate such service. (MNPO Licensee in case of India) Logically Centralised approach may serve as a common platform for ordering, provisioning, and notification process of number portability Synchronization: Port information is kept in a centralized master of Reference Database. Any update to the Reference Database is broadcasted more or less in real time to all operators. (push method). Alternatively Reference Database can be downloaded by operators (pull method). MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 21 Porting Process of number portability Process of NP process involves closure of the account with the donor operator opening of a new account with the recipient operator. If subscriber surrenders number then Number Range holder network receives the number back. It is important to develop the method by which the user requesting a port is verified, via reference to account records, or on some form of documentary evidence such as a bill. capability to quickly reverse a porting for fraudulently request arrangements for communication between entities of porting process, may be electronically, by fax, or by letter procedures for porting bulk numbers as per timelines. MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 22 Typical steps of porting process Subscriber contacts new operators and asks his number to be ported New operator submits number port request to clearing house The clearing house informs the old operator In a specific time frame the old operator deactivates and the new operator activates Clearing house informs all operators that the number is ported MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 23 Operator A MCH Operator B
NP Request NP Request NP Accept NP Accept NP Exec NP Exec NP Ready NP Ready NP Broadcast NP Broadcast NP Done Example of Porting Process T1 T3 T5 T2 T4 Validation of Request Activation and Update Routing Info Deactivation of Service Update Routing Info Initiation of Execution MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 24 Routing of Call to Ported Number Call to a ported number is routed in two stages The first stage, interception stage, is the recognition that the call is towards a ported number. Interception can be performed at the donor switch, at some transit switch, or at the originating switch. The second stage, routing stage, is when the call has been recognized as a call to a ported number and then re-routed from the intercepting switch to the new terminating switch. MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 25 HLR 1 Local/ tandem 2 LD LD QRDB 3 4 5 GMSC 6 GMSC X 7A 7B 7C VMSC/ VLR 7D 7E 8 QRDB 1 MSC/ GMSC 2 HLR A A B HLR 11 Local/ tandem 22 LD LD QRDB 33 44 55 GMSC GMSC 66 GMSC X GMSC GMSC XX 7A 7A 7B 7B 7C 7C VMSC/ VLR 7D 7D 7E 8 QRDB 11 MSC/ GMSC 22 HLR A A B Inter-LSA Call to Mobile Network for a Ported Number (N-1) approach DB size requirement may be for LSA only LSA where portability is not introduced in Phase I, Local DB may not be required Local DB update from own Zone NPDB only MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 26 Inter-LSA Call to Mobile Network for a Ported Number Originating Network Query Approach MSC/ GMSC VMSC/ VLR GMSC GMSC QRDB HLR QRDB HLR Local/ Tandem 1 LD LD 7 1 2 4 5 A B 2 3 3 6a 6b 8 X NLD selection as per subscription network of B Information available for Differential Tariff DB for country wide portability information MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 27 4 QRDB Local/ tandem 2 3 1 GMSC HLR QRDB 5B VMSC/ VLR 5D 5C 5E HLR QRDB 3A 3B 4 5A 1 GMSC X GMSC X B A A 2 3 6 MSC/ GMSC 44 QRDB Local/ tandem 22 33 11 GMSC GMSC HLR QRDB 5B 5B VMSC/ VLR 5D 5C 5C 5E 5E HLR QRDB 3A 3A 3B 3B 44 5A 11 GMSC GMSC X GMSC GMSC X B A A 22 33 66 MSC/ GMSC Intra-LSA Call to Mobile Network for a Ported Number MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 28 Own not ported Ported in Foreign not ported Ported out Non Call Related Traffic: SRI for Short Message IN- SCP HLR SMS-C STP NP-DB SMSC SRF (GTT) NCR SRI_for_SM 3GPP TS 23.066 ANNEX B SRI_for_SM Internal inquiry SRI_for_SM L1 MTP SCCP TCAP MAP To B-MSISDN subscription network
MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 29 Impact on Service Providers
Impact of NP (not exhaustive)
Point of Sales IT Systems: Provisioning, Roaming, Billing systems SS7 Impacts: MSC/VLR, GMSC, STP, IN systems Software feature Impact: MSC/VLR,STP, HLR, IN system Configuration Impact: MSC/VLR, GMSC, HLR, IN system, STP, SMSC PrePaid Services, like Friends and Family, Tariff Classes MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 30 MCH-A NPDB-A MCH-B NPDB-B
Op.A Local DB NP-OG Operat or B Local DB NP-OG Operat or C Local DB NP-OG
Op.D No DB NP-OG Operat or A Local DB NP-OG Operat or B Local DB NP-OG Operat or C Local DB NP-OG Operat or D Local DB NP-OG LSA-A LSA-D Operat or A Local DB NP-OG Operat or B Local DB NP-OG Operat or C Local DB NP-OG Operat or D Local DB NP-OG Opera tor A Local DB NP- OG Opera tor B Local DB NP- OG Opera tor C Local DB NP- OG Opera tor D Local DB NP- OG LSA-C LSA-B QRDB-A QRDB-B East Zone West Zone Network No Local DB Billing & Provisioning System BSS Internal Interfaces MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 31 MCH-A NPDB-A MCH-B NPDB-B Operat or A Local DB NP-OG Operat or B Local DB NP-OG Operat or C Local DB NP-OG Operat or D Local DB NP-OG Operat or A Local DB NP-OG Operat or B Local DB NP-OG Operat or C Local DB NP-OG Operat or D Local DB NP-OG LSA-A LSA-B Option-A QRDB-A QRDB-B Local DBs of Operators parented to NPDB of both zones MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 32 MCH-A NPDB-A MCH-B NPDB-B Operat or A Local DB NP-OG Operat or B Local DB NP-OG Operat or C Local DB NP-OG Operat or D Local DB NP-OG Operat or A Local DB NP-OG Operat or B Local DB NP-OG Operat or C Local DB NP-OG Operat or D Local DB NP-OG LSA-A LSA-B Option-B QRDB-A QRDB-B NPDBs of Both Zones may Synchronize MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 33 Summary Over the past decade, number portability of various types has been implemented in a number of countries The introduction of number portability will also benefit operators as they will strive to offer better service to prevent churn. International experience proves that there is substantial improvement in the QoS after introduction of NP. MNP requires cooperation of all the stakeholders. there are a great variety of solutions for implementing NP, it is vital that all operators agree upon a methodology, and have close co-operation between all stakeholders to ensure that NP is implemented expeditiously and efficiently. MNP Workshop for DoT held at ALTTC-GZB July 19-21, 2010 34