Telecommunications: operator number portability and carrier pre-selection

At this stage and taking into account the urgent need to amend Directive 97/33/EC, the Commission can give its support to the common position adopted by the Council. The Commission notes that the timetable for the introduction of number portability and carrier preselection is less ambitious than the one originally proposed (01/01/2000 for all the Member States). However, it can accept the target date established by the common position as part of an overall compromise. The Commission takes the view that it should be possible, even for Member States will full liberalization deadlines beyond 01/01/1998, to ask their operators for an earlier introduction of number portability and carrier preselection, since much of the technical preparation can and should be integrated with the overall upgrading of networks for which transition periods were granted. The Commission will closely scrutinize progress made. �