Abbasi-Shahkooh, Technical Investigation and Licensing Vice-President of the Communication Regulatory Authority (CRA), referring to the government commemoration week, reported of the drawing up of a Mobile Number Portability MOU and expressed hope that the project will become operational within the first season of the coming Iranian year, stating that: “The experimental phase will be over by the end of this year and after approval of all its aspects, it will officially commence its operations next year.”
According to the Ministry’s Public Relation Center, Abbasi-Shahkooh continued his comments by adding that: “The request for proposal (RFP) of this project has been prepared with the help of an advisor and after the call to participate in tender, a local company with the help of a foreign partner with good experience and expertise in more than 14 countries were chosen as the contractor.”
Emphasizing that the contractor has the help of a foreign partner, he conveyed that: “In addition to that, we have also hired a supervising advisor which is an Iranian firm cooperating with a foreign company, and they have already started their work.”
Abbasi-Shahkooh informed that the contractor has started its operations more than a month ago, saying: “The preparations are over and the actual operations are going to commence soon.”
Pointing out that part of the tasks have to be accomplished by the operators, he included: “The necessary coordination have already been made and within next week an agreement will be signed with the operators where the timeframe of the tasks and operations have been clearly stated for timely implementation.”
The Technical Investigation and Licensing Vice-President of the CRA, stated that the major part of the project operations are the responsibility of the operators, covering changes and modifications that have to be made in the main centers of the three operators, adding that: “The work is mostly centralized and a major part of it is a software operation carried out in just one stage.”
Abbasi-Shahkooh also informed that the implementation of this project is part of the responsibilities of the operators and said: “According to amendment of the operators’ license covering the provision of 3G mobile networks, the operators are responsible for carrying out this project.”
He expressed hope that the operators, which have a vital part to play in project implementation, will help the timely execution of the project through good cooperation and participation.”