More than 68,000 take advantage of NP

According to data published by Brazilian telecoms standards coordinator ABR Telecom, 68,233 telephone numbers were ported in the first three months since number portability (NP) was implemented in Brazil. BNamericas writes that by 4 December, ABR Telecom had registered 27,160 numbers ported from fixed lines and 41,073 mobile connections, out of a total 113,879 requests – broken down as 43,509 fixed line numbers and 70,370 for mobile. NP was launched in Brazil at the start of September this year and is currently available to about 60 million users in the states Acre, Alagoas, Bahia, Ceara, Espirito Santo, Goias, Maranhao, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraiba, Parana, Piaui, Rio Grande do Norte, Rondonia, Santa Catarina and Sao Paulo. The new regime is expected to be available country-wide by end-March 2009.