A Three spokesman said: "Ofcom's decision today has failed UK consumers.
"Fast, easy, recipient-led Mobile Number Porting is the fundamental platform for choice and competition in the mobile market. Nowhere else in Europe is a consumer forced to ask permission to take their number with them when they choose a new operator. The donor-led porting system that Ofcom proposes to keep makes it difficult for customers to choose a deal that suits their needs.
"As mergers and consolidation reduce consumer choice, moving to a quicker consumer-friendly system becomes even more important. Three continues to press for a change as it is in best interests of competition and consumer choice, and will lead to better deals across the industry."
About Three UK
Three is a communications company focused on bringing the benefits of the internet to mobile communications. We offer attractive pricing and give our customers the widest choice of ways to stay connected at home or abroad. To do this we're building the UK's biggest high-speed mobile broadband network. Three UK is a member of the HWL group of 3G companies, which include 3G operations in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Macau and Sweden.
Three facts about Three:
Three launched the UK's first 3G network offering national coverage for calls and texts, and has over 95.5% population coverage for 3G services. As we consolidate our radio access network with T-Mobile we expect to reach almost complete UK population coverage for 3G by the end of 2010.
Three has more than 6.2 million customers in the UK and over 28 million worldwide.
Three is the UK market-leader for Mobile Broadband, and came first in the most recent YouGov survey of Mobile Broadband customers.
For more information about Three UK, please visit www.three.co.uk or call the Three Media Office on 0845 6038333.