NCC Plans GSM 'Number Portability'

In Nigeria nothing goes for nothing, i hear its going to be like a contract package, to be able to switch to whichever network you like, but you maintain your number, and you know contract packages always comes with some deposits, anyway sha lets wait and see. Though i think its going to favour mobile business people, who travel a lot.

of  course it cannot be free,but i think after sometime,it will either be cheaper or at no cost at all.

its a good idea and am waiting for it.cheers

any one who know the advantages of the Plan, please simply list them out here!
and do not bother about the disadvantages, because i've more than a dozen in my head right not.

I think the number Portability thing is BULL SHIT. Let NCC address the issue of poor services first, rather than compounding it. My reasons for saying this are:

1.  Now that we don't have number portability, GSM companies are finding it difficult to serve us well with a range allocated to them.

2.  Ask the Swith Engrs in the phone companies and they will tell you how difficult the implementation would be. This will add more problem to the poor network we are experiencing already

3.   Calls are routed to their destination network through these number range by phone companies i.e any number with 0803 is routed to MTN network & MTN in turn routes it to the subscriber, with your portability and our present technology those who try it might find it difficult to call or receive or even find it impossible except u are well connected and your number specially treated.

4.   Like someone mentioned above, who replaces a lost SIM e.g Glo SIM now on MTN network, the issuer of the SIM (Glo) or the new provider of service  (MTN).

5.   This will proberly end like the Naira denomination issue.

I have no doubt it would work in Nigeria

My concern is the cost.

I hope its reasonable enough for all

Can Number portability drive Etisalat Nigeria Market Share?

Farmed-out license holder,Etisalat Nigeria will utilize the Mudabala License in the very competitive and fast growing Nigeria market.Mtn the clear market leader with over 15 million subscribers with Glo and Celtel coming a close second and third  with very impressive figures, the market is hotly contested for and operators will go to any length to acquire more subscribers even in the face of declining quality of service and poor mobile value added services.

Etisalat job placements in the newspapers signals the readiness to commence pre-roll out operations which is been speculated for the first quarter of 2008.The big question is,how will Etisalat pursue and join a race of six years with very formidable operators?

Nigeria’s third operator,Glo which came in later after the two dominant operators,MTN and Econet (Celtel),adopted the per second billing which provided the needed 
Leverage to quickly establish in the competitive Nigeria Market.In the absence of killer mobile value added services that can clearly differentiate the new operator,Etisalat,Number portability will offer the best and sure way to acquire
Significant subscription level within a short time.

The Nigerian Communication Commission recently approved the use of number portability for the telecoms operators in Nigeria and the commission is making efforts to educate operators on the advantages of number portability. Number portability is a key aspect of deregulation in telecommunications. To ensure that there is competition in the marketplace for telecommunications services. Mobile Number Portability is the ability of a mobile subscriber to retain his/her subscriber number when changing network operators within a country.

Number Portability is not to be regarded as a subscriber service, which a subscriber can subscribe to. It is a network feature that allows the subscriber to keep a unique mobile phone number but must be agreed to among different mobile operators within the defined national or regional boundaries.
Number portability though a recent phenomenon has recorded significant successes in Asia markets which is very similar to the Nigerian scenario. Singapore was the first to implement in 1997 and Hong Kong in 1999,Taiwan recently implemented in 2005. These markets had already achieved the 50 percent mobile penetration rate during that period compared to Nigeria’s penetration rate of 25 percent  which still offers a huge underserved market with a population under licensed territory of 140 million people and mobile phone subscription of over 40 million.

Number portability can be locality based which enables a mobile subscriber to move from one location to another without changing mobile number. This will significantly reduce capex cost and reduce roll out time in different regions in the vast Nigerian land mass for a new operator like Etisalat.
Second type of Number portability is Service Portability that enables a mobile subscriber to keep same number when changing different telecoms services and this is commonly used for mobile value added service. If a subscriber on a donor network wants to access a particular service on a receiving network, there will be no need to change number for the duration.Lastly,the Operator Portability that enables a subscriber to switch mobile operator without changing the mobile phone number,is essential for fair competition among mobile operators and to help new entrants gain market share.

In a market with poor quality of service where mobile operators are still chasing to sign on new subscribers rather than maintain existing ones and increasing the average revenue per user through innovative mobile value added services, number portability will be an advantage to Etisalat if the network offers better quality of service and superior customer service which is lacking with some mobile operators.

There are advantages for implementing Number portability and like wise challenges.
New operators can quickly acquire subscribers though not necessary at lower cost because there are cost elements to number portability. Service providers will often want to charge an administrative fee and recurring monthly fees for number porting services. These fees could discourage some potential porters, as they do not see the justification for such service charges. There is also a waiting period for subscribers to enable the ported number from the donor network to the receiving network and if the waiting period is not reasonable short, subscribers might get wary of the signing up for the service.

Finally,the dominant operators which will provide the bulk of subscribers wanting to move away to new operators like Etisalat,should not see the entrance as a threat but a health competition which will improve the over all satisfaction of the subscribers whom they called Kings.
 
Emmanuel Okoegwale
emmanuel@gomobileng.com
08030818868