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Telecoms operators record 431,978 porting subscribers in one year

By on March 18, 2016

Telecoms operators, last year, recorded the highest number of porting subscribers on their networks, totaling 431, 978 for both outgoing and incoming porting. The figure became the highest since Mobile Number Portability was introduced by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in April 2013.

A recent statistics released by NCC, which captured porting activities across networks from January to December 2015, showed that a total of 219, 577 subscribers ported out of the networks of Airtel, Etisalat, Globacom and MTN, while 212, 401 subscribers ported into the networks of the four GSM operators, totaling 431, 978 recorded number of porting as at December 2015.

In June 2015, operators recorded the highest number of incoming porting subscribers across networks, totaling 51, 251, while they recorded the lowest number of incoming porting subscribes across networks in the month of January 2015, totaling 26, 824.

The statistics also showed the operators recorded the highest number of outgoing porting subscribers in the month of June 2015, totaling 28, 712, while the lowest number of outgoing porting subscribers in the month of January 2015, was put at 14, 330.

From the statistics, Etisalat recorded the highest number of incoming porting subscribers to its network, totaling 14,125 in June 2015, while MTN had the lowest number of incoming porting subscribers totaling 436 in December 2015.
For the outgoing porting subscribers, MTN recorded the highest number of subscribers that ported out of its network in the month June 2015, which was put at 19,214, while Etisalat had the lowest number of subscribers that ported out of its network in October 2015, which was put at only 1, 241.

NCC had on April 22, 2013, launched Mobile Number Portability (MNP) across all networks, designed to offer subscribers the opportunity to port their GSM numbers from one network to another, without losing their original numbers.
Over 4,000 subscribers ported within the first four days of its launch, while 7,164 subscribers ported to different networks within one month of the MNP launch. However, the excitement from subscribers later reduced in the subsequent month, which many attributed to the strings attached to MNP by the NCC.

One of the attached strings was that a subscriber must remain on a particular network for up to 90 days after the initial porting. The implication was that the subscriber would remain on a particular network for as much as 90 days after the initial porting, even when the network service quality is poor.

Although the attached strings initially slowed the rate of porting, as recorded in the month of June, 2013, the total number of porting subscribers dropped to 5,759, as against 7,164 recorded in the month of May, 2013.

Describing number porting as the best thing that could happen to the telecoms industry, the Director, Public Affairs at NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo said the introduction of number porting by the NCC, has helped to empower subscribers who are now at liberty to port from one network to another, if their network operator fails to satisfy them with their service delivery. He encouraged subscribers to take advantage of the scheme, which he said, would help to create healthy competition among telecoms operators.

In technical parlance, Mobile Number Portability is a process that allows subscribers to migrate from one network to another in search of better service quality, without losing their initial GSM number.

 

[ThisDay]