[kictanet] CCK cuts number portability fee for mobile user

Wed May 19 12:54:41 EAT 2010

Possibly a dumb question, but once we have number portability, I won't know
if I am making a call on the same network or not, right? So no way of
avoiding higher cross network charges?

On 19 May 2010 07:46, muriuki mureithi <mureithi at summitstrategies.co.ke>wrote:

> 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@
> lists.kictanet.or.ke
> [mailto:kictanet-bounces+mureithi <kictanet-bounces%2Bmureithi>=
> 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<http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/CCK%20cuts%20number%20%0Aportability%20fee%20for%20mobile%20users/-/539550/920330/-/item/1/-/chb9i8z/%0A-/index.html>
> Sent from my BlackBerryR smartphone from Zain Kenya
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