How to leave your number but change operator. How to change a mobile operator without changing your number - blog about information technology: software, hardware, Internet, services, tips

(information current as of December 2013)

From December 1, it became possible in Russia to switch from one mobile operator to another while maintaining the same phone number. This service is called MNP (Mobile number portability). You can change the operator without changing the number only within one region. The cost of the transition is 100 rubles. You can only transfer a number in federal numbering (city numbering cannot be transferred). In addition, both operators (donor operator and recipient operator) must have technical capabilities for transfer (at the beginning of December the list of “ready ones” included: Beeline, MegaFon, MTS, Rostelecom, Tele 2, SMARTS). A repeated change of operator is possible only 70 days after the previous operation.

• 1. First you need to select the operator you want to switch to, come to one of its offices with your passport and write an application to port the number. The number, of course, must be registered to you and in the region where you plan to make the transition. If the number is not registered in your name, you need a notarized power of attorney.
• 2. After signing the contract and choosing a tariff plan (according to some sources, there are restrictions on the choice), you receive a SIM card with a temporary number from the recipient operator (that is, the one to whom you are leaving your previous one). It is better not to use this SIM card for now. It works, but during the transition period (which can take a long time), you will be charged for both SIM cards.
• 3. The recipient operator will send the application to one-stop center(it is served by the Central Research Institute of Communications), where the donor operator will compare the full name. subscriber with his data and find out the amount of debt (if any).
• 4. On the second or third day, the subscriber may receive an SMS about the debt to the previous operator. It must be repaid by the end of the fourth day from the date of signing the contract.
• 5. After the two operators have completed all the formalities, you will receive an SMS reminder of the transfer date to your old number.
• 6. At X-hour, you can throw away the old SIM card and insert a new one (it should be automatically activated). Afterwards, outgoing calls and SMS may not work for half an hour, and incoming calls and SMS may not work for several hours.
• 7. If there is money left in your old account, you need to come to the office of the donor operator and write an application for a refund.
• 8. According to the law, the transfer process should take no more than 8 days. But, taking into account the unpreparedness of all mobile operators in Russia, shortcomings in the regulatory framework and the implementation of certain technical issues, the mobile operator has the right to transfer you no later than April 15, 2014.
• 9. Thus, the actual transfer period can take from 8 days to three to four months.
• 10. We strongly do not recommend that you switch to another operator in the near future. The fact is that after the transition, roaming (national and international) may not work for you, and there may also be no connection with wired (fictitious) telephony subscribers.

Do you know what the three foreign letters MNP stand for? Literally in English it is “Mobile Number Portability”, and in Russian it is OMR, that is, the abolition of mobile slavery. And it's not a matter of translation difficulties. The very need to switch to another operator while maintaining the subscriber’s phone number appeared as soon as a competitive mobile operator appeared. And if in some Western countries the main provisions of the MNP were introduced at the end of the last century, then in our country the fight against mobile slavery proceeded with some delay.

The first attempts to rid people of their attachment to operators were made at the highest level back in 2004. Then working groups were created, and a certain movement began with the goal of achieving change.

But then, for various reasons, the implementation of MNP did not happen. First of all, the lobby cannot be discounted " big three" Their disinterest in implementing MNP was obvious.

The turning point came in 2012, when the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted a bill on the abolition of “mobile slavery” in the first reading. The launch date for the service was announced as December 1, 2013. Nevertheless, as many probably remember, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree according to which mobile operators had the right to independently set the start date for the subscriber’s service within the service, but no later than April 15, 2014. Thus, operators were finally obliged to introduce MNP, following the lead of developed European countries.

Despite the negative forecasts of the guys from the Big Three, the MNP service turned out to be truly popular.

Of course, the implementation of MNP brought certain inconveniences to mobile operators and a restructuring of business processes, for example, billing and call routing became more complicated. For ordinary users, the innovation turned out to be only a plus. There was no drop in the cost of tariffs, but for the same money, members of the telecommunications oligopoly began to offer subscribers a wider range of benefits.

For the rest legal entities and individual entrepreneurs (more than 50 SIM cards), the earliest period increases to 29 days. It's nice that the price doesn't change. It is fixed for both physicists and lawyers. Amounts to 100 rubles. The approach we have taken can be called conservative. And Russia is not alone in this. Approximately the same procedure for porting numbers takes place in the Czech Republic, Thailand or South Africa.

But in Israel and India, operators thus agreed among themselves that a person does not gain anything from the transition. That is, similar service conditions, communication quality, tariffs and other services cost the same for all operators. Thus, the motive for changing the operator disappears.

In some countries, entire price wars broke out. This happened in Turkey and Brazil. And if visiting a country where there are many wild monkeys in the forests is not very important for most Russians (the World Cup and the Olympics ended there), then I would like to say something about Turkey separately. About 10 years ago, one operator, Turkcell, ruled there (remember your first experience of Turkish roaming, please). So, after the introduction of MNP, 60% of subscribers changed their operator in a couple of years (this half was taken over by Vodafone and Avea). The market was significantly redrawn, and communication tariffs fell by an order of magnitude. By the way, an Asian country also became a pioneer of MNP. In 1997, Singapore took up this task. True, only partially. A full-fledged MNP appeared there only in 2008. You need to know that in addition to MNP, there is also LNP (Local Number Portability). This is when it was possible to move a number between fixed-line operators. And here Asia takes the lead: Hong Kong first did this in 1995.

It’s worth mentioning separately about the possibility of transferring virtual numbers(VoIP). The situation in terms of portability is best in the US and UK. Not bad in Australia, France, the Netherlands and Spain. Various options for porting VoIP numbers are used in another four dozen developed countries. In Russia, this opportunity is not yet available.

In general, to make it easier to compare how things are with MNP in different countries, here is a small selection.

Start of MNP, year
1995 - Hong Kong
1997 - USA, Singapore
2002 - EU
2008 - Türkiye
2008 - Belarus
2011 - Georgia, India
2013 — Russia
2016 — Kazakhstan
2017 – Ukraine (in progress)

Number of subscribers who used MNP, % of the total number
0.01% - Belarus, Kazakhstan
0.1% - Czech Republic
1% - Germany, Bulgaria
5% — WB, Russia
18% - Denmark
20% - Finland
60% - Türkiye
95% - Singapore

Operator change cost
Free of charge - Türkiye, Georgia, USA
19 rupees - India
100 rubles – Russia
50 hryvnia – Ukraine
25 euros – Germany
up to 25 pounds - WB

Operator change deadline
2 minutes - Australia, New Zealand
2 hours - WB, USA
2 days – Denmark
up to 3 days – Georgia
up to 6 days – Türkiye
up to 7 days – India
up to 8 days – Russia
10 days - France
21 days - Sweden
28 days – Lithuania
the data has not yet arrived - Estonia

Reduced maintenance costs, %
6% - USA (VoIP can also be transferred here)
11% - EU

It is worth mentioning separately about the experience of post-Soviet countries.

The most successful MNP launch project happened in Georgia in 2011. It took only four months from idea to implementation there.

The initiator of the introduction of MNP in Belarus was the above-mentioned Turkcell, which in 2008 bought the local state operator. However, this service turned out to be barely in demand.

The same as in Kazakhstan, where it was possible to change the operator last year.

In Ukraine, the MNP service is currently not available. It might start working before the end of the year if some legal issues can be sorted out.

Sources

Portability telephone numbers , Wikipedia

To ensure the operator change goes smoothly, before submitting your application, check:

• details of the contract with the current operator. The number must be issued to you, all data in the passport and the contract must match. If your last name or other passport details have changed since the conclusion of the contract, go to the office of the current operator and update the information;
• the region in which the SIM card was registered. Changing the operator while maintaining the number is only possible in the same region (subject of the Russian Federation) where the SIM card was purchased. If you're not sure, check with your current carrier's website;
• no debt or number blocking;
• period of use. You must use the services of your current operator for at least 60 days;
• number format. You won't be able to change your operator while keeping your landline number. First you will have to transfer it to the federal format, and only then submit an application for transfer.

How to apply to change operator

There are two options for applying:

1. At the new operator's office. Take your passport and 100-200 rubles depending on the operator’s conditions. You can see the specific conditions and amounts of different operators in the table below. At the office, you will need to write an application to change the operator and conclude an agreement for communication services, after which you will receive a new SIM card.
2. On the new operator's website. Fill out the form on the operator’s website or application. After submitting your application, a consultant will contact you to help you choose a tariff and clarify the necessary information. A new SIM card and contract will be delivered free of charge by the courier at a time convenient for you.

A new SIM card with a temporary number can be activated and used from the moment it is received. You can also still use your old SIM card. After the transition, it will turn off, and the new one will change the temporary number to yours.

How long to wait for a number change

In most cases, the number is transferred within 8 calendar days. If you need to change your number later, for example, you want to spend money on your account, you can select a different transfer date. The only thing is that it must be no later than 180 days from the date of conclusion of the contract.

If you do not have time to spend money in your account, it will not be transferred to your balance new SIM card. You can return them by applying with your passport to the office of the previous operator.

During the transfer you should receive several SMS notifications:

1. Gratitude for using the service and the date of the planned number porting.
2. Results of preliminary verification of the number. If all the data from the first point matches, the check will be successful.
3. Reminder to change SIM card. This SMS arrives a day before the number is transferred and reminds you at what time this will happen.

Do not plan important calls during the transfer: at the time of the operator change, outgoing calls and SMS may be limited for 30 minutes, and receiving incoming calls and SMS – for six hours.

The above conditions and restrictions are the same for almost all operators. However, there are still slight differences between them.

What conditions do different operators provide?

Many people who want to improve the quality of telephone services are thinking about how to change their operator while maintaining their phone number. In this case, all acquaintances and friends will be able to reach the subscriber using their old contacts and will not have to notify them additionally. Depending on which operator is used for communication and which service provider is needed in the future, the methods of change, their cost and timing will vary. Let's look at this information in more detail.

Is it possible to change mobile operator without changing the number?

It is possible to change your cellular service provider to another one, while keeping the previously used set of identifying numbers. Although this procedure takes time, after it each subscriber will have the desired service parameters and their old contacts. Different cellular providers carry out the change process in different ways, but in all cases the first step will be to contact the future service provider company to clarify the details.

Required condition To change the operator is to pay off all debts to him. To carry out this procedure, you need to contact the old company and look at the status of the subscriber’s accounts. Next, you should go to the new operator, conclude a service agreement with them, after which a temporary SIM card will be issued. In the next step, the old provider will transfer information about the number to the second, and the subscriber will be able to receive a previously used contact that is serviced by the new mobile provider.

Every person who wants to receive good and quality services in mobile network, must understand that he can change the service company at any time at minimal cost, without affecting his combination of digits for identification. This was legally confirmed by the management Russian Federation in order for the market cellular coverage was transparent and competitive.

Changing mobile operator while maintaining the number in different companies

Companies carry out the number transfer procedure in different ways. Cellular providers carry out this process with great effort, since during such a transition a large amount of information must be transferred, and the old provider loses a client. In such conditions, firms are forced to maintain high quality services provided in order to reduce to a minimum the number of users changing mobile providers.

Change operator in Tele2

• The first thing you need to do is contact support existing operator or find a service agreement among your household documents, which indicates the person to whom the number was registered. Only the person for whom the contract was signed can change the supplier. If you change your passport details, you will have to inform the operator.
• Pay off all existing debts to your old cellular provider. Ideally, the account balance will be zero, but positive is also allowed
• Contact any office of the Tele2 operator and sign a new service agreement. Here the client will be issued a new SIM card for temporary use while the data transfer process is carried out.
• A day before the mobile provider on the old card is changed, the user will receive a notification. Therefore, during this period it is worth rearranging the SIM to receive the full range of services.

On MTS

• To switch to MTS with the MNP service, you need to go to any office of the company with identification documents (original passport) and information about the old number (which is registered to the same person).
• Decide on the tariff at which you will be served by the new provider, pay for the transfer services.
• Get a temporary SIM so that you can make and receive calls during the transfer period. Such a card will receive messages from MTS about the status of the application and the process of transition to a new supplier.
• The temporary SIM card will receive information indicating the exact time and date when the cards need to be rearranged. After this, all relations with the old mobile communications provider will be severed and the subscriber will begin service with MTS.

In Megafon

• For the convenience of its subscribers, Megafon has created an online form on its website (moscow.megafon.ru/mnp/). After entering the data into it, the provider cellular communication receives information about the future client, in addition, delivers the necessary SIM cards and contracts free of charge.
• When concluding official documents, the client must have a passport or power of attorney to manage other people’s data.
• At the moment when Megafon specialists deliver the contracts, they advise on the spot on possible tariffs and select the best possible options to suit the client’s requirements. Payment for porting a number from one company to another is also accepted here.

On Beeline

• Beeline provides several options for number porting. In the first case, you need to make an appointment at the office and come there with all the documents to formalize the contract.
• In the second option, all materials will be delivered by Beeline couriers to the client’s home. Service agreements will also be drawn up there and selected best rates.
• Only a federal number can be transferred, not a city number. However, there may be restrictions in the form of unavailability of calls or SMS.

Cost and transition time

The timing of the transition from one operator to another while maintaining the number may be different, it all depends on the desires and state of information about the client who is being transferred. The waiting period can last from several hours to 6 months, but in most cases within 1-2 days this transfer carried out. The cost of the transition is standard for all mobile communication providers (Beeline, MTS, Megafon, Tele2), it is 100 rubles per operation.

Other additional fees may be imposed by individual companies for services in special tariff plans, installing new features or enhanced communication capabilities. During a consultation with specialists from Beeline, MTS, Megafon or Tele2, it is worth clarifying all the points of interest and asking what the payment will be charged for. Here you need to clarify the transition time that will be needed, because this data will be the most reliable, since it takes into account the specifics of the client.

More than four hundred thousand people expressed their desire to switch to another operator, while leaving their phone number. Rossvyaz recorded 446,256 applications. However, only half of them (259,939 people) successfully got rid of the shackles of mobile slavery.

In theory, the process is simple: you come to the office of the operator whose subscriber you plan to become, write an application, and sign an agreement. According to the law, no later than 8 days later the number will be transferred to another operator. The document usually even indicates the exact time of transition.

In fact, not everyone succeeds in changing operators the first time. What could be the catch? We found out what pitfalls can await you on the way to a new operator, and found answers to non-standard questions from subscribers.

I wasn't transferred, why?

There may be several reasons. Firstly, if the SIM card was issued not to you, but to friends or relatives. An application to port a number can only be submitted by the person to whom a specific number is registered. If this is done by another person, a notarized power of attorney for the representative is required.

Secondly, an error could have crept into the application - they made a mistake in the passport number or wrote Ezhikov instead of the last name Yozhikov (as written in the document). The problem is the same if you grew up and changed your passport or, for example, got married, changed your last name, but did not notify the operator.

Alena Yarushina, press secretary of the Motiv company:

When submitting an application, the subscriber’s passport data must completely match the subscriber’s passport data located in the database of the current operator. Therefore, carefully check each letter in the spelling of your last name, first name, patronymic. Pay special attention to the letters “E” and “E”. If you changed your passport, surname or place of residence (registration) and did not inform your operator about this, you will need to come to his office again before the change and make changes to the database.

How long will they carry?

In your application, you have the right to indicate the desired date for porting your number. The only legal restriction: the number cannot be transferred to the network before the eighth day for subscribers - individuals and the 29th day for subscribers - legal entities. If you did not indicate any date in the application, then the number is automatically transferred to the new operator’s network on the ninth or 30th day, respectively.

Will there be any communication interruptions?

According to the law, interruptions in outgoing communications when moving from one operator to another should not last more than 30 minutes, and incoming communications - more than 6 hours. In fact, the “technological break” in the provision of communication services to the subscriber is usually less. Be prepared that you will be “out of reach” for some time. For convenience, you can schedule a number transfer at night. But there is a catch - at night it is not so easy to top up your balance with a new operator - you will have 0 on your account (if you had money on the balance of your previous operator, it will not be automatically transferred).

However, some operators give gifts to transferred subscribers as a sign of hospitality. “Immediately after porting the number, new subscribers are activated. This will allow you not to be left without communication and make urgent calls before the first top-up. However, we still recommend that especially sociable subscribers plan to port their number during the daytime,” advises Alena Yarushina.

How to top up your balance after porting a number?

The abolition of mobile slavery has also added work to financial institutions. Previously, whether a phone number belonged to a cellular operator was determined by a directory of operators and DEF codes (the first three digits that made it possible to identify the operator). Now banks and payment systems also need to take into account the database of ported numbers. If mobile operators submit information about the transfer to this database in a timely manner, then it will be impossible to top up the account of the previous operator. In other words, if you changed operator X to operator Y, and then accidentally decided to top up your phone balance by transferring money to the old operator X, then your payment transaction will be denied.

Banks had to update their systems - this primarily affected online banking and mobile banking.

Press service of the Ural Bank of Sberbank of Russia:

Sberbank notes that the “mobile banking” service is currently being finalized. For now, users with a ported number to pay for mobile communications are recommended to indicate the operator directly in the Mobile Bank SMS command (for example, “MTS 200” to pay for their phone number or “MTS 9ХХХХХХХХ 200” to pay for any other number).

Regional banks also updated their banking software. Thus, a new menu item has appeared in all UBRD ATMs - “Payment when changing operator”. Changes have also occurred in the Internet bank: now subscribers who have changed operators, when making payments via the Internet, can see the “ Mobile communications"You need to select the item "Payment for communication when changing operators (MNP service - switching while maintaining the number)"

“When paying, the client needs to work a little - choose his new operator. But the payment will arrive without delay and exactly to the address,” says Konstantin Kotelnikov, head of the information technology directorate of UBRD.

Cellular operators themselves advise that in the first few hours after porting a number, top up your balance directly at the sales and service offices of the new operator or using express payment cards.

I changed my mind. I'm staying!

If you suddenly decide to stay with your previous operator, then you can refuse the application only until 00:00 on the fifth day from the date of submission of the application.

Can I see everyone?

You can try at least all operators, alternately changing one for another: the number of transitions is not limited by law. The operator can be changed once every 70 days. This is due to internal procedure and interaction between operators. The transfer is possible only if the subscriber has no debts to the previous operator. And the previous operator can send information about the subscriber’s debt to the new operator within 30 to 60 days; another 10 days are given to pay off the debt. This is where the 70 days come from.

How are direct landline numbers transferred?

No way. Unfortunately, this is not possible now - transfers are only allowed federal number(9xx-xxx-xx-xx). It is also important to take into account that the number is transferred only within the region of the Federation in which it was registered with the current operator. That is, if you moved from Chelyabinsk to Yekaterinburg, then you will not be able to keep your Chelyabinsk number.

Who should I contact if any difficulties arise during the transfer?

The transfer is handled by the operator you plan to switch to. The current operator is only checking the possibility of transfer. This means that the subscriber must contact the new operator for all questions. This can be done with the help of subscribers - in real time the subscriber will be helped to resolve any issues, including those related to changing the operator.