S.L. 399.48 чл. 94Provider switching and number portability. Cap. 418.

(1) In the case of switching between providers of internet access services, the providers concerned shall provide the end-user with adequate information before and during the switching process, and shall ensure continuity of the internet access service, unless this is technically not feasible.

(2) The receiving provider shall ensure that the activation of the internet access service occurs within the shortest possible time on the date and within the timeframe expressly agreed with the end-user, whereas the transferring provider shall continue to provide its internet access service on the same terms until the receiving provider activates its internet access service.

(3) Loss of internet access service during the switching process shall not exceed one working day.

(4) The Authority shall take such measures as it considers necessary to ensure the efficiency and simplicity of the switching process for the end-user. In doing so the Authority may require undertakings to comply with such measures as the Authority may by decision establish.

(5) End-users subscribed to voice communications services with numbers from the national numbering plan may request that they retain their numbers, independently of the undertaking providing the service, in accordance with Part C of the Sixth Schedule.

(6) Where an end-user subscribed to a voice communications service terminates a contract, that end-user shall retain the right to request to port a number from the national numbering plan to another provider for a minimum of one month after the date of termination, unless that right is renounced by the aforesaid end-user.

(7) The pricing among providers related to the provision of number portability shall be cost-oriented, and no direct charges shall be applied to end-users.

(8) Subject to eligibility criteria as may be established by the Authority in line with sub-regulation (11), the porting of numbers and their subsequent activation shall be carried out within the shortest possible time on the date explicitly agreed with the end-user:

Provided that an end-user who has concluded an agreement to port a number to a new provider, shall have that number activated within one working day from the date agreed with that end-user:

Provided further that, in the case of failure of the porting process, the transferring provider shall reactivate the number and related services of the end-user until the porting is successful. The transferring provider shall continue to provide its services on the same terms and conditions until the services of the receiving provider are activated. In any event, the loss of service during the process of provider switching and the porting of numbers shall not exceed one working day.

(9) Operators whose access networks or facilities are used by either the transferring provider or the receiving provider, or both, shall ensure that there is no loss of service that would delay the switching and porting process.

(10) The receiving provider shall lead the switching and porting processes set out in sub-regulations (1) to (4), (8) and (9), and both the receiving and transferring providers shall cooperate in good faith:

Provided that such providers shall not delay or abuse the switching and porting processes, nor shall they port numbers or switch end-users without the explicit consent of the end-users concerned:

Provided further that the contracts of the end-users with the transferring provider shall be terminated automatically upon conclusion of the switching process.

(11) The Authority may establish the details of the switching and porting processes, taking into account national provisions on contracts, technical feasibility and the need to maintain continuity of service to AND SERVICES (GENERAL)

the end-users. In establishing such details the Authority shall include, where technically feasible, a requirement for the porting to be completed through over-the-air provisioning, unless an end-user requests otherwise.

(12) The Authority shall take such appropriate measures as it may consider necessary to ensure that end-users are adequately informed and protected throughout the switching and porting processes and are not switched to another provider without their consent.

(13) A transferring provider shall refund, upon the request of a consumer using a pre-paid service, any remaining credit to that consumer. Such refund may be subject to a fee only if provided for in the contract between the transferring provider and the consumer:

Provided that any such fee shall be proportionate and commensurate with the actual costs incurred by the transferring provider in offering the refund.

(14) The Authority shall establish such rules as it may consider appropriate in relation to the sanctions that may be imposed in accordance with Part VI of the Malta Communications Authority Act in the case of the failure of a provider to comply with the obligations laid down in this regulation, including in relation to delays in, or abuses of, porting by or on behalf of a provider.

(15) The Authority shall establish such rules as it may consider appropriate on the award of compensation of end-users by their providers, in an easy and timely manner where such providers fail to comply with the obligations laid down in this regulation, as well as in the case of delays in, or abuses of, porting and switching processes, and missed service and installation appointments.

(16) In addition to the information required under the Eighth Schedule, the Authority shall take such measures as it considers necessary to ensure that providers adequately inform their end-users about their rights to compensation as provided for in sub-regulations

(14) and (15).