Number Portability looks likely whether Digicel likes it or not ?

A Mobile number portability (MNP) service enables mobile phone users to change their service providers without changing their original number. Its purpose is to foster consumer choice and effective competition by enabling subscribers to switch between providers without the costs and inconvenience of changing telephone number. It can also be applied to fixed lines.

Yet, it’s the one thing Claro really wants, second only to overtaking Digicel this year in the marketplace.  Digicel on the other hand, says “that the costs of implementing number portability are not outweighed by the benefits, based upon its experience in other markets.”  Claro wants it badly; Digicel says it’s too expensive. It is, perhaps, tempting to assume that a newer market entrant would be welcoming MNP much more enthusiastically, mindful of an improved opportunity to grab customers from established rivals. So it’s not surprising then that challenging operators would take the aggressive stance, whereas dominant operators are initially more reluctant to push MNP. Hmmm!


Then comes the OUR Request for Proposal

Fast forward to today’s Jamaica Observer newspaper where the Office of Utility Regulations (OUR) which regulates, though not very well, the telecom sector, published an advert asking for a Request for Expression of Interest for Consulting Services to conduct a feasibility Study and Cost Benefit Analysis for Implementation for Number Portability. It will be funded by the Multilateral Investment Fund( MIF) a division of the Inter-American Development Bank ( IDB).

The study will seek to 1. assess the International experiences with number portability; 2. assess all possible technical options for implementing it across mobile and fixed line networks; 3. assess the short and long term costs and viability of doing it and then the last but by no means the least at all , 4. determine whether a number portability will impose any unfair burden on any carrier or service provider. lol.

What about the consumers?

Nowhere is there a mention about asking the consumers what they want- to have the choice, the freedom or to be strapped further into long term contracts with mobile providers that no longer serve them well. This number portability could be a breakthrough for individual consumers and dor large corporate clients, who endure major inconvenience to change their numbers, thought with Number Portability it same them time and money.

Funny while this RFP ad was in the Observer, it’s the one link that’s not working on the OUR’s new website. Anyhooo!!

What does it mean for Digicel, Claro, LIME?

If Number Portability is brought into place, it will mean that it would in effect be what we call open season in Jamaica. It means that if a mobile service provider wants to win customers from it’s competitor, it has to convince the market that they are a better option, and why they are a better option. This means that superior customer service will be critical to winning and retaining these customers.

Digicel at this time, would win hands down with customer service. LIME, well we here it has improved but the loveless Cable & Wireless legacy lives on. Plus, even though Claro has been stunning the market with its freeness, cheapness and first to market moves- it still sucks eggs in the customer service department.

Facilitates competitiveness in the market place

It is largely accepted, that number portability while not necessarily being a driver of consumer behaviour, is an option that needs to be available to consumers, as it is a feature that needs to be present in any industry with more than one competitor, if that industry is to be regarded as being at all competitive.

Number Portability around the World.

I went Googling and found that over 40 countries worldwide have implemented Number Portability, according to a US$399  October 2008 Report, published by Telecommunications Management Group, Inc.

Plus

1. Brazil  – A total of 4.2 million people requested number portability (NP) in Brazil last year, according to data published by the body managing number portability in the country, ABR Telecom. The agency also reported that of the total, 3.2 million people actually completed their switch to a new provider.

2. Ireland – Approximately 1.487 million people have switched mobile provider since the launch of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in June 2003.

3. India should have had theirs completed by late last year, but they gave mobile providers a little more time to upgrade their networks. It launches in March 31, 2010.

4. In the European Union -Member States are required to ensure the provision of number portability to subscribers.

So let’s see which firm is awarded this contract and what the findings will be by the start of summer.

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