S'pore begins search for 'number administrator'

SINGAPORE--The government has called for bids to identify a company that will undertake the building of a centralized database, to facilitate number portability across the local fixed-line and mobile telecoms market.

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) said it is looking for a "centralized database administrator" to support the country's plans to have "true number portability" by the fourth quarter of 2007.

Singapore in August this year, had announced plans to improve the existing number portability model, offered since 1997, which IDA said has its limitations. To enable subscribers to retain their old numbers, for example, mobile operators reroute calls made to the old number to the subscriber's new number. So, when the subscriber calls or sends a text message to his friends, they will still see his new number.

The current system is also not built to support new players and services, according to IDA.

To be selected in early 2007, the "operator-neutral administrator" will be responsible for developing a centralized database that supports number portability for both fixed-line and mobile services across Singapore. The island-state currently has a mobile penetration rate of more than 100 percent.

The database administrator will operate the database for seven years, from the launch of the number portability in fourth quarter next year, the IDA said. All bids must be submitted to the regulator by Dec. 6 this year.

Leong Keng Thai, IDA's deputy chief executive and director-general of telecoms, said in a statement: "With [a] true number portability solution in place, we can expect to see keener competition than ever and the emergence of more compelling services and packages from the operators."

Not the first country to implement a central database to facilitate number portability, Singapore's initiative follows similar ones in the United States, South Africa and most European countries. Others such as Australia, Taiwan and Malaysia, are also planning to build databases for the same purpose, according to IDA.

VoIP for all numbers
Still on news related to numbers, local ISP (Internet service provider) SingNet earlier this week said it is ready to offer "fully-interconnected" voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to enterprise customers.

SingNet's VoIP service now allows companies to make and receive calls, to and from fixed and mobile numbers--prefixed '6', '8' and '9'--in Singapore.

Wong Soon Nam, SingTel's vice president of business marketing, said in a statement: "With full interconnection in place, businesses can now enjoy the convenience of a traditional telephony service combined with the features of a VoIP service." SingNet is a fully-owned subsidiary of SingTel.

The IDA in June last year unveiled plans to issue new 8-digit numbers--prefixed '3'--to operators offering VoIP services.