Keep your mobile number and switch operators - in 2006

Mobile operators are working out a framework scheme, which they claim is a costly and complex process. "By the end of 2006, subscribers who decide to change their mobile phone operator will be able to retain their phone number," said Mirosław Bielicki, vice-president of Polkomtel, operator of the Plus GSM network. Operators need to draft necessary procedures and create a new entity to supervise the transfer of telephone numbers. According to operators, and some of the potential suppliers of the number-switching system, the government is to blame for such a long wait for number transfers. On one hand, the law obliges operators to provide the possibility of transferring numbers, but on the other, the Infrastructure Ministry has not yet managed to pass the necessary decrees to allow this. (Puls Biznesu, p. 10) T.J.