Cameroon’s cellcos have signed a contract with Chinese equipment supplier Huawei to implement mobile number portability (MNP) services in the country.

According to Business In Cameroon, the agreement was signed on 19 April in the country’s capital, Yaounde, and will see Huawei launch the service within seven months, by November 2016.

Total funds of XAF1.5 billion (USD2.6 million) will reportedly be invested in launching MNP by the local mobile subsidiaries of MTN, Orange and Viettel.

As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, in July 2015 Cameroon’s telecoms regulator, the Agence de Regulation des Telecommunications (ART), awarded a contract to Huawei for the supply, installation and operation of a centralised database to manage the introduction of MNP.