MANILA - The Philippines’ two biggest telcos wrangled over the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) law, with Smart accusing Globe of being “unprepared” to implement the measure and the Ayala-led telco citing the “complexity” of the task for one of its brands.

The MNP, which took effect last Sept. 30, orders telcos to let postpaid and prepaid subscribers switch providers and keep their numbers for free.

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In a statement, Smart said there were “serious and persistent concerns” affecting Globe customers who wanted to transfer to Smart.

The Manny Pangilinan-chaired telco said those who wanted to transfer their mobile numbers to Smart encountered difficulties due to “Globe’s system-readiness issues and general unpreparedness” to implement MNP.

Smart said it has also asked the National Telecommunications Commission to look into the delay in Globe service provider GOMO’s implementation of MNP.

It said that as of Oct. 5, Smart logged a 38 percent rejection rate by Globe due to technical issues.

In response, Globe said its core brands including Globe Prepaid, Postpaid, Platinum and TM are currently providing MNP service, and that GOMO’s porting service will start on Oct. 12.

It added that it has not yet received a request from a GOMO customer wanting to avail of the MNP service.

Globe said the delay in GOMO’s porting rollout was due to the “complexity of multiple functions of its other brands.”

The Ayala-led telco added that issues regarding MNP service are being discussed in TCI, the joint venture company that acts as a clearing house for phone number transfers.

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“All service providers are aware of the challenges currently being experienced,” Globe said.

"We are sincere in our intent to give our mobile customers the ability to choose their favorite provider and we are doing our best to comply,” Globe said.

Under the implementing rules and regulations of the MNP, it should take a subscriber only 48 hours to switch telcos.

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