Automated Mobile Number Portability Software to Comply with Latest Telecom Regulations

About the Client

The Client is a European IT consulting and software development company offering telecom applications and services to both domestic and international players — such as fixed-line and mobile carriers, MVNOs, ISPs, WISPs, VoIP service providers, and others.

An EU Directive Demanded Fast, Automated Number Portability

In 2002, one of the EU's new directives urged telecom operators to ensure that mobile users could keep their telephone number when switching to another service provider. The directive was meant to level competition among telecom operators and help users benefit from that competition. However, without a central database, achieving the intended results required a lot of manual routine from service providers — sometimes, porting a mobile number could take up to two months. Together with the Client, INNERLUXES was commissioned to create an automatic Mobile Number Portability (MNP) system that would enable users to change operators without delay.

A Centralized MNP System With Inbound and Outbound Porting

During the project, INNERLUXES's mobile development team created the core business logic of the application, integrated it with a number of external systems (billing, databases, and more), and performed full-cycle testing to ensure seamless system performance. Thanks to a centralized database, service providers can now easily exchange user information. The system supports two types of mobile number porting: inbound and outbound. A typical inbound porting process comprises the following steps:

• The user contacts Customer Service and provides their personal data. Customer Service representatives validate the data and check whether the user has a positive credit balance.
• The user chooses a product — a price plan, additional services, and so on.
• Porting begins with verifying that the number is unique and eligible according to the external systems.
• A user account is created in the billing system.
• The number is activated in the new telecom network.

Thousands of Users Switching Providers Without Delay

The project was finished successfully. Thousands of users have been able to easily switch service providers without needing to change their number. INNERLUXES went on to help the Client support and improve the system.

Technologies and Tools

Languages: Java, Perl, HTML, DHTML.

Apache: Tomcat 5.0, HTTP Server, Subversion 1.2.3, Ant 1.6.5, log4j 1.2.12.

Other: Oracle 9i, J2EE (Java Servlet, web services), JUnit, Spring, Hibernate, Mason, TOAD 7.3.