Local number portability

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This article is about telephone number portability on landlines. For telephone number portability on mobile phones, see mobile number portability.

Local number portability, (LNP) for fixed lines, and full mobile number portability (FMNP), for mobile phone lines, refers to the ability to transfer either an existing fixed-line or mobile telephone number assigned by a local exchange carrier (LEC) and reassign it to another carrier. In most cases, there are limitations to transferability with regards to geography, service area coverage and technology.

In the United States and Canada, mobile number portability is referred to simply as WNP or WLNP (Wireless LNP). In Japan and Pakistan it is referred to as mobile number portability, (MNP)^[1].Wireless Number Portability is available in some parts of Africa, Asia, Australia, and most European countries including Britain; however, this relates to transferability between mobile phone lines only. Iceland, Canada, and the United States are the only three countries in the world that offer full number portability transfers between both fixed lines and mobile phone lines ^[2] because mobile and fixed line numbers are mixed in the same area codes, and billing wise are identical for the calling party, the mobile user usually pays for incoming calls; in other countries all mobile numbers are placed in higher priced mobile-dedicated area codes and the originator of the incoming call to the mobile phone pays for the incoming call, not the mobile phone owner.

Some cellular telephone companies will charge for this conversion as a regulatory