[kictanet] CCK cuts number portability fee for mobile user

Wed May 19 07:46:13 EAT 2010

Hi listers
On the day MNP becomes operational,  the market dynamics for the growth
sector will change,  Safaricom will focus on retaining their customers
while the other competitors will exert their energies to entice customers
out of    Safaricom. For the other operators,  its much cheaper to capture
new customers from Safaricom  than make   huge investments to sensitise and
educate new customers whose capacity to pay is increasingly  lower .  With
energy focused inwards  , who will grow the market and increase the national
penetration? Considering that the 60% of our  economy is based around
Nairobi, it certainly will not make sense to focus on the rural areas where
huge investments are required - instead just cannibalise the existing market
and penalise the rural effort .

CCK should consider  a package to go hand in hand with introduction of MNP
to ensure that the market grows to bring on board the 50% who are not yet
included in the mobile revolution.. 

Cheers 
Muriuki Mureithi

-----Original Message-----
From: kictanet-bounces+mureithi=summitstrategies.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke
[mailto:kictanet-bounces+mureithi=summitstrategies.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.k
e] On Behalf Of alice at apc.org
Sent: 18 May 2010 15:20
To: mureithi at summitstrategies.co.ke
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: [kictanet] CCK cuts number portability fee for mobile user

 By Okuttah MarkPosted Tuesday, May 18 2010 at 00:00

Mobile phone subscribers intending to switch their current operators but
still retain their number will only pay a one off fee of Sh200 and not
Sh1,000 as had earlier been proposed, the industry regulator has said.The
Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) had earlier, when seeking comments
from the telecommunication operators, proposed Sh1,000 and an extra two
shillings on top of the current tariffs, a fee that industry experts and
telecommunication operators warned could inhibit the uptake of the
service.CCK said number portability would make it easier for subscribers to
retain their numCCK cuts number portability fee for mobile usersbers
whenever they decide to change service providers and also enhance
competition in the sector.On Friday, CCK said it had settled for a one off
fee of Sh199.80, the winning bidder (Porting Access BV Netherlands) had
quoted and that no other extra fee will be incurred by the subscribers apart
from the prevailing tariffs charged by the operator at the time of switching
over.Mobile subscribers are expected to start utilising the service before
the end of the year."A one-time porting fee of Sh199.80 will be charged by
porting subscriber. If there are services a subscriber still wishes to enjoy
then that's enough reason why he should not port out. But a subscriber can
port back to his former network if attractive services are introduced ,"
said Mr Mutua Muthusi, assistant director, public relations and
communication."Porting service will only enable you to retain the number you
were assigned by Network X while in Network Y. You will retain no
relationship with your former provider if you decide to port out."Zain Kenya
says other than the porting fees, there may still be other costs arising
from interfacing the equipment of various operators with the data base
manager, as it is not clear who will bear such costs or that of upgrades for
interfacing with the database.Mr Rene Meza, the managing director of Zain
Kenya, says the company has started positioning ahead of the implementation
of the number portability service because it believes that customers will
move to the operator that offers best value and that there are still issues
to be sorted out such as interoperability of the money transfer systems."At
present, the money systems of various operators are not fully integrated or
interoperable. We believe it is just a matter of time before regulators,
especially the Central Bank, begin to push for full integration and
interoperability," said Mr Rene.Last Thursday, the operator reduced its
calls to other networks to six shillings from Sh12 from 6pm to 6am and three
shillings for calls made on its network.A subscriber switching or migrating
from operator X to Y can only switch back to his previous operator after
paying another similar porting amount.Once a subscriber has crossed over to
another network, he cannot enjoy any of the services provided by the former
operator.This means that if a subscriber switches from operator X to Y and
is travelling abroad, the subscriber will be charged roaming charges by the
operator he has migrated to and not what the former operator was
charging.This also touches on customer care services or any complaint that
the subscriber may want to raise about network quality or pricing.Porting
Access BV Netherlands clinched the deal, beating Seven Seas Technologies
(Kenya, Infozillion (K) Ltd, Pluton ICT Ltd (Kenya), Teletech from Slovenia,
Saab Grintek Technologies (South Africa) and Systor Group of Companies.The
implementation of mobile number portability is part of measures that the
regulator has come up with to enhance competition in the sector.The sector
has four mobile operators and close to 20 million subscribers, but 78 per
cent is controlled by the leading mobile provider Safaricom.Analysts say
attachment by many subscribers to their user numbers has prevented millions
from changing service providers despite the marked differences in pricing
and quality of service offered by the different players.Retain numberCCK
says number portability should enhance competition and consumer convenience
in the telecommunication sector by "enabling consumers to retain their user
numbers whenever they decide to change service providers."That means
subscribers do not have to invest in new SIM cards or carry a number of
handsets to enjoy the services of other operators.It also enables consumers
to make use of alternative networks in an area where one provider has no
footprint or is experiencing a network problem.

Source:
http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/CCK%20cuts%20number%20
portability%20fee%20for%20mobile%20users/-/539550/920330/-/item/1/-/chb9i8z/
-/index.html
Sent from my BlackBerryR smartphone from Zain Kenya
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