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They voiced their opinions at the second public hearing of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on a proposed mobile-number portability scheme in Chiang Rai.

The portability is part of the NTC's market-liberalisation project. It will provide mobile-phone subscribers the right to use of their existing phone numbers when switching to a new network. This will give cellular operators an incentive to keep improving their service, in order to prevent subscribers from switching to competitors' networks.

The NTC's draft policy on mobile-number portability requires subscribers to pay Bt300 to port their existing mobile numbers.

Consumers are also required to stay with a new network for at least 60 days before switching to another network, saying consumers should be free to migrate to any network anytime they wanted.

The NTC has earmarked a budget of Bt8.5 million for holding public hearings. It will hold a third hearing in Khon Kaen next Friday and a fourth in Phuket on August 1. About 50 people attended at Chiang Rai, mostly university staff and representatives of NGOs