Number Portability

Number portability became mandatory within the Telecom Industry on 1 January 1999. This obligation makes it possible for customers to transfer to another telecom operator while keeping their telephone number.

The organization responsible for monitoring number portability in the Netherlands is the COIN (Communications Infrastructure) Association, which includes representation of the Netherlands Telecom Operators.

The COIN Association manages the number porting process in accordance with a protocol referred to as ‘End-to-end Standard Number Portability’.

In addition to number portability, the COIN Association is also responsible for regulating the Dutch market to ensure that incumbent KPN provides other telecom market players with open access to the local loop of its network.
More recently, COIN has also been active in ensuring that the switchover between broadband services proceeds as smoothly and reliably as possible.

VDVL has carried out assignments for various telecom operators related to number portability, as well as local loop and switchover thresholds. In addition, VDVL also carries out assignments within the COIN Association itself.