Mobile number portability (MNP) is one of those telecommunications offerings that seem to be available everywhere in the world but the Middle East. Having your phone number tied to you instead of a SIM card is a concept that the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has been talking about introducing but not yet delivering to the UAE.

Once the MNP switch is turned on, one would expect both Etisalat and du would see a healthy amount of customers leaving each respective operator for the other. Mobile phone rates would likely decrease while the operator's would introduce promotions at a feverish pace to reduce subscriber churn. Personally, it would also really make my job a lot more fun writing about all of these developments.

The last we've heard about MNP coming to the UAE was this October 2009 article in our sister newspaper, Al Itthad (Gulf News link) where the TRA said it is likely to become operational sometime ... around now (or the early part of 2010).

I recently had a chance to speak to some high-level executives from Etisalat and du to get an update on where launching the MNP service is at, which you can find after the jump.

Essa al Haddad, the group chief marketing officer for Etisalat:

We have a team from both parties who meet and work with all the technical, administrative and commercial [issues]. Talks with the teams are ongoing.

The TRA has mandated that this has happened in 2010. When exactly, we do not have a date because we will follow whatever date is given by the regulator. Our teams - technical, commercial and regulatory - are already in meetings to resolve whatever differences there are.

Osman Sultan, the chief executive of du:

Negotiations are fine and now I think we're in agreement. I'm guessing this will happen in the first half of this year.

There are a lot of things that are not ready but it will be possible but you need to automate certain things. There is some work done at Etisalat and some work done on our side.

I don't believe that everything is ready. I believe that it's a matter of a few months to really have things acceptable by everyone and acceptable by the public, the customers.

(Photo credits: A man uses his mobile phone outside of Madinat Zayed Shopping centre in Abu Dhabi, Essa al Haddad during an interview at his office, Osman Sultan at a press conference at The Address Hotel in Dubai. Ryan Carter, Jaime Puebla, Andrew Henderson / The National)