Summary

  • On 15 October, the CRTC authorized ISP Telecom and other registered full MVNOs to access wireless local number portability systems directly, provided they meet existing requirements.
  • The Canadian LNP Consortium must change its governance, agreements and cost-recovery arrangements by 1 February 2027. The decision grants no spectrum, radio-network or general numbering rights.

Porting follows the core, not the tower

Canada’s wireless-number rules were built around a simpler division: a facilities-based carrier could reach the porting system, while a reseller or MVNO asked its underlying carrier to do the work. In Telecom Decision 2005-72, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said resellers and MVNOs lacked the network information or access needed to port numbers independently.

The CRTC’s 15 October decision, 2026-271, draws a narrower line. A full MVNO may use a host carrier’s radio access network (RAN), but it runs core systems such as switches and billing platforms. The Commission says number porting occurs at the switch in that core; the host’s radio network is not needed to move a number between providers. That changes who can operate the porting step without changing who owns the spectrum or carries the radio signal.

The ruling approves ISP Telecom’s application and extends the same route to every full MVNO registered with the Commission that follows existing WLNP requirements. The CRTC said four full MVNOs were registered at the time, but did not name them. Access is optional: an eligible provider may continue to rely on its carrier.

Direct access also comes with the obligations attached to the system. Full MVNOs must meet the relevant membership and voting rules of Canadian LNP Consortium Inc. (CLNPC), cost-recovery terms, service intervals and technical requirements. Porting preserves an existing number; it does not allocate a new one. The CRTC therefore rejected the claim that this application would accelerate numbering-resource depletion. Its decision does not confer general number-allocation rights or remove the need to negotiate a host-carrier RAN arrangement.

The Commission declined a separate proceeding for other full MVNOs, finding the existing decisions and industry rules sufficient. It directed CLNPC to amend its governance, agreements and cost recovery by 1 February 2027. The decision establishes eligibility; the consortium’s implementation will determine the terms on which that eligibility works in practice.

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