Latest official statistics released the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Wednesday, indicate that more than 87, 887 telephone lines ported from one network to another in the first 10 months of the launch of the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) scheme in the country. The figure comprises porting in and out and of all the Global System for Mobile ?Communication (GSM) networks which include: MTN, Airtel, Globacom and Etisalat. Porting to a particular network results in the gaining of new subscribers by the telecoms service provider, while porting out of the network shows loss of subscribers to competitors. According to the NCC data, which provides details of MNP activities on the various GSM networks between May 2013 and February 2014, 87,887 phone users ported during the 10 months period. On the incoming porting, latest industry data revealed that 7,164 ported in May; 5,759 in June; 6,870 in July; 14,440 in August, while a total of 16,185 subscriber lines were ported in September last year. In October, November and December 2013, the number of subscribers who ported were 8,112; 8,242 and 6,962 respectively. In January and February this year, the figures for the four GSM networks were 6,888 and 7,265 respectively. Although, porting from one network to another is not compulsory, MNP has been described as a service that is beneficial to telecoms consumer in Nigeria, where the networks are not robust yet, even as telecoms operators continue to work with the Interconnect Clearing House (ICH), for more flexible ways to make migration from one network to another less cumbersome. According to the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications, NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, the most important reasons for introducing MNP are: to provide choices for the subscribers in the face of unsatisfactory experience they are having on their current network and secondly; to keep operators on their toes to invest on their network, to improve service delivery, to avoid losing its subscribers to other network with better quality of service. According to findings, not many subscribers are conscious of the advantages of MNP but telecoms operators say they have increased awareness drive among their subscribers on the huge benefits of MNP. Speaking at a forum organised by Etisalat in Lagos recently, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Matthew Willsher said MNP is now very flexible because migration now takes few hours as against maximum of three days we started with at launch. He noted that MNP has enabled the network to gain high-profile individuals in the country. MTNs Corporate Services Executive, Wale Goodluck, also confirmed that there is a level of flexibility and innovation that MTN was building into its services to make it attractive to subscribers.
Posted on: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 21:20:35 +0000
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