Version 10, 19 November 2009
MNP OSG - Administration and Structure
MNP Status and Background
On 4th January 1999 Mobile Number Portability (MNP) was launched in the UK. For the first time
mobile phone users were able to take their mobile number with them when changing mobile
communications provider.
The process that made MNP possible took a cross industry team over 18 months to develop and
although technically sound proved complex to implement throughout the Network Operators and
Service Providers (SP).
The cross industry MNP group reviewed the process in mid 1999 as a result of the feedback received. It
was agreed that the problems encountered since launch could not be overcome without a fundamental
change to the MNP process. A small working group was set up to develop a new porting process in
order to address these issues.
The new donor-led process aimed to more fully meet both customer and industry expectations by
reducing the opportunities for the port action not to happen on the agreed day whilst reducing
operational costs by using Internet web based solutions for communicating between SP’s.
On 16 November 2006, Ofcom published a consultation – “Review of General Condition 18 – Number
Portability” in which it noted that excessively long port lead times may discourage consumers from
switching provider and therefore proposed shorter porting lead times for the Consumer process.
On 17 July 2007, Ofcom concluded its review by releasing a notification of modification to the General
Condition 18 (July Decision) which required the porting lead times of the Consumer process to be
reduced to 2 business days by no later than 31 March 2008. This change was put into effect on 18
March 2008. The revised Process Manual prepared by the OSG is available on the public part of the
MNP OSG website (http://www.mnposg.org.uk)
On 17 July 2007 Ofcom published another consultation – “Arrangements for porting phone numbers
when customers switch supplier - A review of General Condition 18” in which it considered a further
reduction of the porting lead time (from 2 business days) to less than 2 hours and, in recognition of the
low levels of consumer awareness of the right to port, a switch from the donor led process to a recipient
led process.
On 29 November 2007, Ofcom released its concluding statement – “Telephone number portability for
consumers switching suppliers” and a notification of modification to the General Condition 18
(November Decision) requiring the implementation of a near-instant (no more than 2 hours) recipient
led Consumer porting process and establishment of a central database of ported mobile numbers for
direct routing of calls to mobile numbers as soon as reasonably practicable and, in any event, by 1
September 2009.
During 2008, UKPorting managed the preparation of the recipient-led new process needed to meet this
new requirement. (see http://www.ukporting.org.uk).
Vodafone supported by BT, Telefonica-O2, Orange and T-Mobile appealed to the Competition Appeal
Tribunal against the decision of the Office of Communications (“OFCOM”) to modify Part 1 and
General Condition 18 of Part 2 of the General Conditions regarding number portability, as set out in
Annex 2 to the concluding statement entitled “Telephone number portability for consumers switching
suppliers” (“the Decision”), published on 29 November 2007.
In Judgement 1094 on 18 September the CAT found in favour of the appeal and remitted the whole
matter to OFCOM for reconsideration. OFCOM has consulted all interested parties on both the porting
process and the routing arrangements and responses are available on:
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http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/gc18_mnp/
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/gc18_routing/
Ofcom is currently considering these responses.
The current legal requirement for MNP is therefore still the version of General Condition 18 with the
amendment published on 17 July 2007 to require two day porting using the donor led system. A
consolidated version of GC18 is available in the following file:
"2007-08-15
cvogc150807.pdf"
Number portability is also under review by the Commission in the revision of the Universal Services
Directive and the Commission is proposing that the time for porting should be limited to one day. This
requirement will probably refer to the actions by the donor and allow the recipient more flexibility over
the timing.
MNP OSG
The MNP Operator Steering Group is the group established amongst MNOs to manage the operational
aspects of MNP. Face-to-face meetings are held monthly with subsequent meetings agreed at each
meeting. The operation of the MNP OSG is governed by the OSG Constitution, which is available from
the MNP Production Manager upon request.
There are two different classes of member:
 Executive Members who have funded the capital cost of the current Syniverse MNP system
 Participating Members who have joined more recently and have not funded the MNP system.
OSG Administrative Committee
The Administration Committee is the decision making body of the OSG. It currently has 7 seats and an
independent Chair. One seat is held by each Executive member and two seats by chosen representatives
of the Participating Members. There are currently 8 Participating Members.
The following table summarises the quorum and voting for formal decisions at the OSG with the
current number of seats - the figures will change if the number of seats changes in the future.
Votes in favour
7
6
5
4
Pass
Pass
Pass
Fail
Pass
Pass
Fail
Pass
Pass*
1-3
Members present
Fail
7
Fail
6
Fail
5
*Not for
Constitution
No quorum
Number of Executive members and Delegated Representatives = 7
Quorum = 7 *2/3 = 4.67 so with rounding up = 5
Normal decisions
Decisions = 3/4 majority of members present
7 present  5.25 so with rounding down = 5
6 present  4.5 so with rounding up = 5
5 present  3.75 so with rounding up = 4
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Changes to Constitution
Quorum = 7*3/4 = 5.25 so with rounding down = 5
Decisions = 3/4 majority of members (not members present)  5.25 so with rounding down = 5
Groups that interact with or come under the OSG are:
Participating Members Working Group (PMWG)
This group hold monthly phone conferences and is attended by OSG members that are not Executive
Members as set out in the OSG constitution.
Chair:
This group is set up to allow the non-Executive OSG members to have collective representation, which
is fed into the OSG Administration Committee via the Participating Members.
Operator Technical Group (OTG)
This group meets on alternate months and is attended by MNOs.
Chair: MNP Production Manager Alex McKillop 07976 894 504; [email protected]
This group is responsible for ensuring the technical platforms that support the porting process are in
order. Currently there are no major the issues the OTG are working on. This group may hold meetings
via phone conference in the future if there are not enough issues to justify a physical meeting.
Operator Review Group (ORG)
This group hold monthly phone conferences and is attended by MNOs and Services Providers.
Chair: MNP Production Manager Alex McKillop 07976 894 504; [email protected]
This group is made up of individuals that carry out porting activities on behalf of the customer. The
monthly meetings serve as a place to raise any operational issues that may arise. The group completed
in 2008 the change from 5 day to 2 day Port Lead Time.
On a technical and operational level, Syniverse offer a support desk, which is open from 9-6pm
Monday through Saturday.
OSG Staff
The OSG employs the OSG Chair and the MNP Production Manager.
John Horrocks is the OSG Chair and is presently contracted 3 days per month via FCS
Tel: 01483 797807; [email protected]; Skype: johnhorrocks
Alex McKillop is the MNP Production Manager and is presently contracted 8days per month via FCS
Tel: 07976 894 504; [email protected]
Federation of Communication Services (FCS)
The FCS provides banking and secretariat services to the OSG. This includes receiving OSG annual
membership fees and making payments on behalf of the OSG.
Contacts:
Name
Position
Mobile
Fixed
Email
Jacqui Brookes
CEO
07850 208884
020 8249 6363
[email protected]
Michael Eagle
General Manager 07841 370332
020 8249 6390
[email protected]
Christine
Administrator
020 8249 6363
[email protected]
Warwick
Louise
OSG accounts
020 8249 6382
[email protected]
Britchford
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OSG Bank Account
The funds for the OSG are currently and temporarily managed by FCS using a nominee account.
Signatories to the account are:



Jacqui Brookes
Michael Eagle
Christine Warwick
Funds held in the account come from annual OSG membership fees paid my OSG members.
These funds are used to meet the costs incurred by the OSG in relation to ensuring the effective
delivery of the MNP Service.
The management and control of expenditure is specified in OSG-AC08-10r1 Revised Contractual and
Payment Arrangements v4.
OSG Budget
The OSG financial year ends on the 31st of March each year. A forecast for the following financial
year is compiled by the MNP Production Manager in advance of the end of each financial year for
review by the OSG. Once input has been received on the budget, it is formally accepted and forms the
basis of the calculation of the OSG membership fees for the following year. These fees are calculated
by a predefined formula specified in the OSG constitution.
OSG Membership Fees
Executive and Participating members pay fees at two different levels corresponding to the seats on the
OSG.
 Each of the 5 Executive members pays 1/7 of the budget
 Each of the 7 Participating member pays 1/8 of 2/7 the budget.
Note: Hitherto significant parts of the costs have been paid only by the Executive members and so the
fees for the Participating members will rise as they start to bear their share of the full costs.
OSG Current Members
Executive Members:
H3G
Representative
James Westby
Kushal Sareen
Mobile
07782 325541
07782 325263
O2
Richard Clarke
07730 548123
[email protected]
Orange
Ian Hayhoe
Sarah Hoyle
07734 985553
07971 021791
Kirsty Ware
07929 120107
Gulistan
Moledina
Ruchita Desai
07957 312703
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
T-Mobile
Vodafone
Paul Carter
Gary Loveday
0790 320
1947
07786 967501
07920 288867
Fixed
01628 765541
01628 76
5089
01707 314010
Email
[email protected]
[email protected]
Please add fixed numbers if possible
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Participating Members
*BT
Representative
Shaun Moon
*Mundio
Mobile
Cable and
Wireless
Hay
Systems
Lyca
Mobile
Magnus Kelly
OnePhone
Peter Scrope
Truphone
James Body
Vectone
David HillKelly
Munawwar
Hussain
Mark Hay
Amitabh
Sharma
Mobile
07777
600021
07711590311
Fixed
07822
892226
07968
847040
0786 8866
392
0121 629
5737
07836
200271
07978 800
001
Email
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
020 7536
6450 Ext 6572
[email protected]
[email protected]
020 3002
6565
020 7170
0400
[email protected]
[email protected]
* Denotes Delegated Representative who represents the Participating Members on the OSG
Contractual arrangements
OSG Chair
The OSG chair has a contract with FCS. FCS obtains the funding for payments to the OSG Chair from
its contract with each of the members.
MNP Production Manager
The MNP Production Manager has a contract with FCS. FCS obtains the funding for payments to the
OSG Chair from its contract with each of the members.
Syniverse
Syniverse is the provider of the MNP system. Presently each of the 5 incumbent MNOs is party to a 6way agreement with Syniverse for the supply of the MNP system. This is paid for through the raising
of 2 POs each year payable directly to Syniverse from each of the MNOs to cover their share of the
support fees. These POs cover periods that end at the end of June and December each year.
Participating Members access the system by signing a licensing agreement and payment to use the
system is made on a per port basis. .
CR38 - Changes to allow Participating Members to be added to the
Syniverse System
New Participating Members have to pay their share of the depreciated cost of CR38 which was
originally £43k.
CR40 - Changes for 2 day porting
New Participating Members have to pay their share of the depreciated cost of CR38 which was
originally £17.2k.
FCS
FCS has a contract with each of the Executive and Participating members and invoices them for the
membership fees.
Web site
The website is run by the Chair and the Production Manager and is hosted by Catalyst2
(http://www.catalyst2.co.uk).
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VAT status
The OSG is not a legal entity and is not VAT registered. The accounts however are handled by FCS,
which is VAT registered, and so fees will be paid with VAT from late 2009. Other more complex
arrangements were used before then.
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