iconectiv Enables Fixed Number Portability in Argentina

• What’s the News: iconectiv has been providing mobile number portability service in Argentina since March 2012. Under a contract extension, iconectiv is also providing fixed number portability service, which launched in September 2022.

• Why it Matters: Argentina is one of few countries in the world with both fixed and mobile number portability. This expansion provides choice and convenience to consumers and businesses, and drives innovation among communication providers. The addition of fixed number portability helps Argentina’s regulators more efficiently manage and optimize national numbering resources.

Telephone number portability drives innovation and competition by giving consumers and businesses the freedom to choose the communication provider that best fits their needs. On September 20, 2022, Argentina became one of only a handful of countries in the world with both fixed and mobile number portability.

For over a decade, iconectiv—the world leader in number portability and ambassador for trusted communication—has played a key role in enabling number portability across Argentina. In 2011, the iconectiv subsidiary Administradora de la Portabilidad Argentina S.A. (APA) was chosen to administer and verify mobile number porting. The effort launched in March 2012 and led to over 19 million successfully ported mobile numbers. In 2022, the contract was expanded to allow for the addition of fixed number portability which gives consumers and businesses even more freedom while providing the country’s regulators with additional options for efficiently managing and optimizing scarce numbering resources.

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“Argentina is a country that other nations can look to when they want to understand how number portability benefits consumers, businesses and regulators”

The mobile number portability market in LATAM is rapidly growing. For example, in neighboring Chile, a total of 343,222 fixed and mobile numbers were ported in April 2022 alone–up 19% year over year and 50% higher than in April 2020, according to telecommunications regulator Subtel.

“Argentina is a country that other nations can look to when they want to understand how number portability benefits consumers, businesses and regulators,” said Peter Ford, Executive Vice President of iconectiv. “For over a decade, iconectiv has been a proud partner supporting Argentinians’ choice to change service providers without the loss of their phone numbers—first with mobile and now with wireline, too. From an economic standpoint, this encourages innovation from service providers, stimulates adoption from consumers and ultimately facilitates a stronger marketplace.”

Argentina is one of the six countries in the world that support both fixed and wireless number portability powered by iconectiv’s Number Portability Clearinghouse solution.

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