On December 23, 2024, ANACOM, the Portuguese telecoms National Regulatory Authority (NRA), approved a Regulation on Number Portability. This regulation outlines the principles, rules, and processes that telecom operators must follow to ensure number portability in electronic communications networks.
This new regulation aligns with the updated Electronic Communications Law and the EU Directive 2018/1972. The directive mandates that prices for number portability services must be cost-based and prohibits direct charges to end users. It aims to strengthen consumer rights, making it easier to switch service providers and ensuring equal protection for consumers across the EU.
As Portugal was required to implement this directive, the regulation establishes a ban on charging direct portability fees to end-users with contracts linked to numbers. Other relevant features of this regulation are:
- The setting of compensation of €10 to customers for failure to comply with the scheduling of physical intervention network, which requires the rescheduling of the intervention for another day.
- The obligation of the Receiving Provider to ensure that portability and the subsequent activation of numbers take place on the date expressly agreed with the customer as soon as possible and no later than one working day after that date.
- In the event of termination of the contract, and unless they waive this right at the time of deactivation of the service, the end user retains the right to port PNN numbers to another company.
- The quarantine period for numbers is 90 days, during which users can still transfer their numbers to another company, unless they gave up this right when canceling the service. Additionally, companies cannot give these numbers to others for 180 days.
- The limitation on the wholesale cost that operators can pass on to competitors for the service. It now has a maximum value of €1.
- When a prepaid service number is ported, the original provider must refund the remaining credit to the user. However, the user may have to pay a fee for this refund if it's stated in the contract and is reasonable based on the company’s costs.
The new regulation will become effective on 23 November 2025.