Regulatory

Number Portability in Brazil: How the ABR Telecom System Works

Understand how number portability works in Brazil, from the BDR to the BDO, and ABR Telecom's role as the Management Entity.

SipPulse - Technical TeamJanuary 24, 20265 min read

Number Portability in Brazil: How the ABR Telecom System Works

Why portability matters for your operation

Number portability is both a regulatory obligation and a commercial opportunity for ISPs and carriers. If you operate STFC or SMP services in Brazil, you must participate in the portability system managed by ABR Telecom. This means maintaining compatible technical infrastructure, meeting regulatory deadlines, and ensuring your databases are always synchronized.

The consumer's right to switch carriers while keeping the same number is established in Law 9,472/1997 (General Telecommunications Law) and regulated by Resolution 460/2007, which created the General Portability Regulation (RGP). Since September 2008, when operations began, over 100 million portings have been completed in Brazil.

For smaller carriers, portability is a powerful customer acquisition tool. Your potential customers can migrate from large carriers without losing their numbers. This removes one of the biggest switching barriers in the telecommunications market.

The BDR: what you need to know as an operator

The Reference Database (BDR), managed by ABR Telecom, is the central repository that records which carrier each ported number belongs to. When there is any doubt about number ownership, the BDR is the definitive source.

For your operation, the BDR matters because it is the source from which your Operational Database (BDO) receives updates. Every time a number is ported anywhere in the country, the BDR is updated and that information needs to reach your BDO so that call routing works correctly.

The BDR records the complete history of all portability transactions in the country. With over 100 million records, it is one of the largest portability databases in the world.

The BDO: your operational responsibility

The BDO is the local copy of the BDR that your carrier maintains on its own infrastructure. It is used in real time to determine to which network a call should be forwarded based on the dialed number.

Synchronization between the BDR and BDO occurs every 15 minutes. This interval is defined by regulation and is not negotiable. In practice, at most 15 minutes after a portability is completed in the BDR, all carriers in the country must have the updated information.

Here is the critical point for your operation: if your BDO is not synchronized, calls will be routed incorrectly. This causes completion failures, incorrect billing, and customer complaints. ABR Telecom monitors the synchronization process and reports irregularities to Anatel. Delays or inconsistencies in your BDO can result in regulatory proceedings against your company.

Your engineering team should implement automated BDR-BDO synchronization monitoring with alerts for failures or delays. This is not just good practice, it is an operational necessity.

The portability process: what your team needs to do

If you are the receiving carrier (where the customer is migrating to), the flow begins when you register the portability request in ABR Telecom's system. The process follows standardized steps:

First, your team registers the customer's request in ABR Telecom's system. Then, the donor carrier is notified and has a deadline to verify legitimate impediments, such as outstanding debts. If there are no impediments, the process enters the execution window, when the actual switch happens: the BDR is updated, the BDOs are synchronized, and calls start being routed to your network.

If you are the donor carrier (where the customer is leaving from), you will be notified and given a deadline to respond. Refusing a portability without a legitimate reason is a regulatory violation. Outstanding debts may be grounds for refusal, but the regulation limits which situations constitute legitimate cause.

Portability completion deadlines have been progressively shortened over the years. Your operations team needs to be prepared to process portabilities within current deadlines, or face potential Anatel notifications.

Portability in STFC and SMP: practical differences

In STFC (fixed telephony), portability covers geographic numbers tied to a specific location. The ported number must remain in the same original geographic area. This means that if you are an STFC carrier in a particular region, you will only receive portabilities for numbers from that area.

In SMP (mobile telephony), portability is more geographically flexible since mobile numbers are not tied to a physical location. However, the number must remain associated with the same original area code (DDD).

If your operation involves both services, you need to maintain separate processes for each type of portability, respecting the geographic rules for each service.

Public number lookup: a tool for your daily work

ABR Telecom provides a public lookup tool at consultanumero.abrtelecom.com.br. It allows anyone to verify which carrier a number is currently associated with, taking into account any portings that have been performed.

Although production routing uses the local BDO, this lookup is useful for support teams that need to confirm number ownership, billing departments verifying tariffs, and regulatory professionals investigating specific issues. Direct your team to use this tool as a quick reference.

Commercial implications for your company

Portability is one of the pillars of competition in the sector. By eliminating the barrier of number change, the regulator ensures consumer mobility. For smaller carriers and ISPs, this is an advantage: you can attract customers from large carriers without those customers needing to share a new number with all their contacts.

Use portability actively in your commercial strategy. Simplify the request process for customers. Train your team to register requests in ABR Telecom's system quickly and without errors. Every successfully completed porting is a customer who chose your company.

On the other hand, every porting that leaves your base is a signal that something needs improvement, whether it is price, quality, or customer service. Monitor your inbound and outbound porting rates as indicators of commercial health.