The mobile number portability system and service should be up and ready in December, Premon Pinsakul, chairman of Clearinghouse Co, said yesterday.
Comprehensive testing of the MNP system would start on September 1 next Wednesday, he said.
Clearinghouse Co was founded by the five telecoms charged with making the system work.
Advanced Info Service, Total Access Communication, TrueMove, CAT Telecom and TOT joined with Clearinghouse Co to hold a press conference to report on the progress of MNP system development.
They have been warned by the National Telecommunications Commission that they will be fined if they fail to meet the August 31 deadline set by the NTC to get the system off the ground.
The telecoms said it was up to the NTC's judgement whether it would slap a fine on each of them, but if it did, they would discuss again whether to defend themselves legally.
They have repeatedly told the NTC that the MNP system needs time to be thoroughly tested to ensure it operates smoothly, otherwise consumers will be inconvenienced.
Premon said that in foreign countries, MNP testing takes four to five months. If the testing here ran into only a few problems, the system might be ready before December.
Saruj Thipsena, head of business development for Asia at telecom software and services provider Telcordia, said the five telecoms and Clearinghouse Co would simulate porting situations as part of the testing to see if there is any problem.
Premon denied speculation that the telecoms want to delay launching MNP for fear that their customers will rush to switch to other networks, since MNP will let them keep their old numbers when they move to a new service provider.
They plan to bid for a 3G-2.1-
gigahertz spectrum licence, so they want to see MNP working as soon as possible, he said. The NTC's 3G spectrum licensing regulations require third-generation networks to offer MNP.
The telecoms are also expected to use MNP to migrate their customers from their concessions to 3G to save on regulatory costs.
The concessions require them to share some 25 per cent of their revenue with state telecom enterprises, while the 3G licence fee will cost them about 6 per cent of revenue.
The telecoms were initially required to introduce MNP three months after the MNP regulations were published in the Royal Gazette, which was last August.
Last September, the five telecoms submitted the Clearinghouse Co plan to the NTC, which approved it in November.
Clearinghouse Co was set up in January with registered capital of Bt2 million. Clearinghouse Co hired Telcordia to develop the clearinghouse system in April. Each telecom has also been adapting its own system to connect with Clearinghouse Co.