January 30, 2025 Results of the Solicitation for Opinions on the “Guidelines for the Implementation of Number Portability for Fixed-line Telephone Numbers (Draft)” and Publication of the “Guidelines for the Implementation of Number Portability for Fixed-line Telephone Numbers.”

 The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) released the “Guidelines for the Implementation of Number Portability for Fixed-line Telephone Numbers (Draft)” and solicited opinions on the draft from Tuesday, December 17, 2024 through Monday, January 20, 2025.
 As a result, six opinions were submitted, so the opinions submitted and MIC's approach to these opinions will be made public, as well as the “Guidelines for the Implementation of Number Portability for Fixed-line Telephone Numbers”.

1. Background

 Since November 2024, MIC has been holding the “Study Group on the Realization of Bidirectional Portability of Fixed Telephone Numbers (chaired by AIDA Hitoshi, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo) (hereafter ‘Study Group’) to formulate guidelines for bidirectional telephone number portability for fixed lines, which will be introduced when the PSTN is migrated to an IP network.
 Based on the discussions at the Study Group, MIC solicited opinions on the “Guidelines for the Implementation of Number Portability for Fixed-line Telephone Numbers (Draft)” from Tuesday, December 17, 2024 through Monday, January 20, 2025, and six opinions were submitted.
 Based on the opinions submitted and thoughts on those opinions, the “Guidelines for the Implementation of Number Portability for Fixed-line Telephone Numbers” have been formulated and are hereby announced.

2. Method of obtaining materials

 Attachment 1 and Attachment 2 will be published in the “Public Comments” section of the e-Gov (https://www.e-gov.go.jp) portal site for electronic government, and will also be available for viewing and distribution at the Number Planning Office, Telecommunications Technology Systems Division, Telecommunications Business Department, Telecommunications Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (10th floor, Central Gov’t Building No. 2).