Patricia Bonanni
Published on: December 5, 2023
Being stuck with the same Telecom Service Provider has always been an impediment to healthy competition between the mobile operators. In the past subscribers were discouraged from switching their service because they had to give up their number. So, even if other mobile operators offered cheaper services, people mostly stayed with their current provider.
Then came Mobile Number Portability, a technology that offered the possibility to a subscriber to switch the service provider but retain the phone number. First introduced in 1997 in Singapore, then in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and the Netherlands, it is now widely implemented in varying ways across the globe.
Whilst this service is great for consumers it causes headaches for companies sending large amounts of SMS and Voice calls because they may not know where to route the traffic correctly to which network if the number is ported.
Number portability is a telecommunications feature that allows mobile and landline users to switch network providers while keeping their existing phone number. This capability enhances consumer choice, encourages competition among telecom operators, and enables businesses to maintain continuity in customer communications.
In many countries, Mobile Number Portability (MNP) is regulated to ensure users can seamlessly transfer their numbers without service disruptions. However, managing number portability presents challenges for telecom providers, particularly in routing calls and messages accurately after a number has been ported. Without precise routing data, businesses and service providers may encounter misrouted traffic, increased costs, and security vulnerabilities.
Number Portability Routing (NPR) is the process of accurately directing calls, SMS messages, and digital communications to the correct network after a phone number has been ported from one mobile operator to another. When users switch providers while retaining their existing phone number—a process known as Mobile Number Portability (MNP)—service providers must update their routing systems to ensure uninterrupted connectivity.
When a number is ported, it no longer belongs to its original carrier. Without accurate routing information, businesses and service providers may experience:
Failed or Misrouted Calls & Messages: Outdated network data can lead to delivery failures, affecting customer interactions and authentication processes.
Higher Operational Costs: Routing errors can increase telecom costs, especially for enterprises handling large volumes of calls and SMS traffic.
Security Risks & Fraud Exposure: Fraudsters exploit weaknesses in number portability to conduct SIM swap fraud, account takeovers, and phishing scams.
Real-Time Lookup Services: Advanced number intelligence platforms query live telecom databases to determine the current network of a mobile number.
Optimised Call & Message Routing: Once a number is ported, intelligent routing systems ensure that communication is delivered to the correct mobile network without delays.
Fraud Prevention & Compliance: Real-time verification helps detect anomalies in ported numbers, reducing the risk of fraudulent activity and ensuring compliance with telecom regulations.
Accurate number portability routing is essential for telecom operators, financial institutions, and businesses that rely on secure, uninterrupted mobile communications. By integrating intelligent number lookup solutions, organisations can enhance call efficiency, reduce fraud risks, and improve customer experience in a mobile-first world.
At TMT we have a solution to this. Our Velocity service identifies the current network provider for any number anywhere in the world. Our support teams have integrated a full number range plan, mapping all allocated and available number ranges to operators. Therefore, even if a number is not in our portability database (because it has not been ported yet), we can return the correct routing information.
Velocity streamlines number portability routing by providing real-time, accurate number intelligence to ensure efficient call and message delivery. Ported numbers often require updated routing information to avoid failed connections, increased latency, and unnecessary charges. Velocity solves these challenges with:
Real-Time Number Intelligence: Velocity instantly verifies whether a number has been ported, retrieving the most up-to-date network operator details.
Optimised Call & Message Routing: Ensures that voice calls and SMS traffic are directed correctly, preventing failed deliveries caused by outdated carrier information.
Reduced Fraud & Security Risks: By detecting anomalies in number portability changes, Velocity helps businesses combat fraud attempts, such as SIM swap scams and unauthorised call rerouting.
Improved Customer Experience: Whether for customer service, authentication, or business communications, Velocity helps companies maintain seamless interactions with their users, even when they switch networks.
By leveraging Velocity’s precision in number portability routing, telecom providers, financial institutions, and digital platforms can enhance efficiency, reduce operational costs, and improve security across their mobile interactions.
Our customers use our service hundreds of millions of times every day, billions of times every month. They use TMT because they know we help them reduce costs, provide a superfast response time and improve their delivery success rate.
At present the most popular countries for this service from us are India, Japan, France Brazil and the United Kingdom and we are introducing new countries with Number Portability all the time. We have recently introduced China, Faroe Islands, Uzbekistan and are due to go live with Ireland and Philippines soon migrating them to MNP data sources.
TMT has truly global coverage, having access to porting information for the countries where the portability services have been enabled. Our data is from authoritative sources such as regulators and Mobile Network Operators, updated at least once a day to ensure our customers get the most accurate porting information.
To learn more about the difference between mobile number portability and HLR lookups you can read our related article.
Last updated on February 4, 2025
"Phone number verification plays a critical role in helping to detect and prevent online fraud. TMT ID’s TeleShield product provides easy access to global mobile data, enabling us to enhance the actionable results of our MaxMind minFraud® services."
"BTS (Business Telecommunications Services) is successfully using TMT’s Velocity and Live services to check the status of mobile numbers. This way we make sure we optimize the performance of the service offered to our customers and ensure the quality of terminating traffic to all countries.”
"Working with TMT’s TeleShield service has expanded our ability to detect fraud and minimise the risk to our business. TeleShield brings peace of mind and the opportunity to stop fraud before it affects our customers’ bottom line or the service."
"LATRO relies on TMT’s TeleShield to provide the most up to date and reliable numbering qualification information within our fraud reporting tools, enabling us to protect our customer’s revenues and empowering them to defend themselves against fraudulent numbers."
"TMT is a valued partner that enables us to manage our routing costs effectively. They proactively and continuously expand their operator and country coverage while delivering exceptional customer service. We can always count on them to achieve high-quality results and look forward to our continued collaboration."
"TMT provides us with the most comprehensive numbering intelligence data through their fast and reliable Velocity and Live services. TMT is a trusted partner for us, their products ensure that we continue to optimise the best performance and service to our customers."
"TeleShield from TMT gives 42com the power to detect and target telephony fraud scams internationally, thereby protecting our company from the financial and customer experience impacts of telecommunications fraud."
"It has been a pleasure to work with the team at TMT. They have become an essential provider of accurate numbering data information and Number Portability services globally."
"Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier uses TMT ID as one of their key suppliers for Mobile Number Portability Data services. Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier uses TMT ID’s Velocity MNP solution. This is an ultra-fast query service that optimises the routing of international voice calls and A2P messaging."
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