In a bid to deepen competition and force mobile
phone operators to provide better service to their
customers, the Nigerian Communications
Commission, NCC, on Monday launched the
Nigerian Mobile Number Portability service to
guarantee freedom for telecoms subscribers.
Here are 15 things you need to understand
how the service can better work for you:
1. MNP allows subscribers to migrate from one
mobile service provider to another without changing
their mobile phone number. It empowers
subscribers to terminate their relationship with their
current network service provider if they are
dissatisfied with the quality of services provided.
2. The service is provided by all GSM mobile
operators in Nigeria- MTN, GLOBACOM, ETISALAT,
and AIRTEL- free of charge. This, however, does not
apply to Fixed Number Portability, FNP, or any other
form of number or service portability.
3. All mobile phone users, no matter the type of your
subscription or plan – pre‐paid/pay-as-you-go, post‐
paid/contract, simple/single number or complex/
multi number – can take advantage of the service.
Individual numbers are ported separately as
separate transactions using the same procedure as
for a single number account except that the
numbers may share the same porting request form.
4.Subscribers must visit the customer care office,
retail shop or outlet of their chosen new service
provider to request to port their number. Porting
cannot be done via telephone calls, text messages,
online or other electronic means. Deferred or
delayed porting is not permitted. Only real-time
porting of numbers is allowed.
5.You must present valid identification documents-
passport, driver’s license or an official identity card
that has your picture on it- as for proof of identity. A
webcam is used to capture your image in the
absence of proper identification documents.
6.Your new network needs to check for credit
worthiness to ensure that the request to port a
number or numbers is not malicious.
7. To port your number, you would be asked to
complete a Port Request Form. You would then be
asked to send a text message with the word “PORT”
to a short code “3232”. Porting is completed within
48 hours.
8. A new SIM card is issued every time you port
your number to a new service provider. Your old SIM
card ceases to be useful once the porting process
has been completed.
9. Subscribers to any network can port at any time
and as many times as they like in a given year.
However, porting to a third operator or back to your
original operator is restricted within 90 days of a
previous port. You would need to follow the same
procedure each time you decide to port your number
or return to your previous service provider.
10. Information on the progress of your porting
request is sent via SMS. You can change your mind
at any time before you receive confirmation SMS is
sent. Cancellation of porting request or porting
process is not acceptable once you receive
confirmation.
11. Service from the old service network operator
may be lost within an hour of notification by SMS of
completion of porting request.
12. Your call charges may change to reflect the
tariffs of the new network operator.
13. Voicemail, SMS, MMS and ancillary services
would need to be reset with the new service
provider. Messages sent to you prior to porting may
be lost.
14. Pre‐paid subscribers cannot take outstanding
credits while switching to the new service providers.
15. Post‐paid subscribers must settle outstanding
bills to their previous service provider, including any
early termination fees, before the porting process
can commence. A final bill for usage up to the time
the number is ported would be sent to the new
operator.

Na Bye Bye to Emptyhen be that Õoº°°º..