Parliament Friday passed the Mobile Number Portability Regulations, 2011 (Legislative Instrument 1994), which was laid in the House on May 31, 2011 in accordance with Article 11 (7) of the Constitution. The Mobile Number Portability (MNP) initiative aims at offering subscribers the opportunity to switch freely from one network to another while maintaining their existing phone numbers. For the National Communications Authority to ensure the smooth implementation of the MNP, there was the need for the appropriate legislative framework to be put in place in line with Section 97 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775). The L.I. thus imposes an obligation on service providers to provide mobile number portability while laying out clear procedures for porting. The Chairman of the Subsidiary Legislations Committee of Parliament, Mr Kwame Osei Prempeh, moved the motion for the passage of the L.I. and his motion was seconded by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Biakoye, Mr Emmanuel Bandua. In its report, the committee observed that the coming into force of the L.I. would protect the interests of subscribers by enhancing consumer choices and freedoms. "The possibility of a subscriber losing his original phone number while transferring to another service provider will be eliminated," the report said. It also observed that the L.I. would also contribute to the building of a robust communications industry to ensure that the provision of quality mobile service and create the platform for fair competition among network operators. Contributing to the ensuing debate before the passage of the L.I., the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, said the SIM card registration exercise would eliminate fraud in the mobile telecommunication industry. He disclosed that since April 2010, 40,000 fraudulent SIM cards had been detected in the system, explaining that activities of such fraudsters fetched them between $50,000 and $100,000 per month. The Member of Parliament for Evalue-Gwira, Mrs Cathrine Ablema Afeku, called on the Communications Committee of Parliament to be alive to its oversight responsibility to ensure that the right equipment was put in place by the service providers for the successful implementation of the MNP system. The L.I., which was laid before the House on May 31, 2011, automatically comes into force after 21 sitting days of Parliament. Source: Daily Graphic