[kictanet] CCK cuts number portability fee for mobile user

Andrea Bohnstedt andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com
Wed May 19 15:12:41 EAT 2010


Thanks Stephen, that helps. I've been wondering about this for a while and
it seemed a very obvious concern to me, but since nobody else asked, I
figured I might have missed something.

On 19 May 2010 15:09, Stephen Chege <SChege at safaricom.co.ke> wrote:

>  I think what Andrea has asked is; how will you know that the person you
> are calling is on the same network? In the example below by Walu, you may
> have moved to Zain but everyone could assume that you are still with Safcom
> because of your 072XXX number. This lack of awareness is a drawback to MNP
> as callers experience ‘bill-shocks’ when they discover that they have been
> calling an off-net number.
>
>
>
> Andrea; to answer your query, where MNP has been introduced operators are
> requested by Regulators to notify a caller that the call they are making is
> off-net, this can be done through a pre-recorded message or a tone.
>
>
>
> We hope CCK shall invite operators to discuss this and other regulatory
> issues surrounding the technical aspects of porting.
>
>
>
> Steve
>
>
>  ------------------------------
>
> *From:* kictanet-bounces+schege=safaricom.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke[mailto:
> kictanet-bounces+schege <kictanet-bounces%2Bschege>=safaricom.co.ke@
> lists.kictanet.or.ke] *On Behalf Of *Walubengo J
> *Sent:* 19 May 2010 14:55
> *To:* Stephen Chege
>
> *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] CCK cuts number portability fee for mobile user
>
>
>
> @Andrea,
>
> the way i understand number portability (and i wish the guys in the
> industry/regulation could confirm) is that me as a Safcom subscriber, would
> approach Zain and tell them I am tired of the high costs and want to shift.
>
> Zain would then record my Safcom number and do some Backoffice operations
> with Safcom/Regulator which will conclude with them signing me up as their
> (Zain) customer WITHOUT me changing from my Safaricom (072xxxx) number to
> their Zain number. As a customer I wont have to worry about these back
> office technical and administrative exchanges.
>
> What matters is that from that point going forward, I will be a Zain
> customer without losing my number and by extension, I avoid the need to
> inform my 1,000+ contacts of my new number - which according to theory is
> one the key barriers to customer migration. So to answer your question -
> will you know which network you are on? -yes, because you will be legally
> and businesswise a Zain customer.  And so Zain Intra and Extra-network calls
> tariffs will apply -both of which have come down anyway :-(, someone from
> Zain needs to pay me for this free marketing.
>
> The only problem ofcourse will be what happens to your M-Pesa, M-Kesho and
> M-Whatever comes up from the endless innovation of Safaricom. If Number
> portability is allowing you to migrate voice only, then its impact would be
> quite minimal. Infact Safcom may harvest some customers instead?....Sam
> Gatere has already  asked about this and hope someone gives us an answer.
> ...
>
> walu.
>
>
> --- On *Wed, 5/19/10, Andrea Bohnstedt <
> andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com>* wrote:
>
>
> From: Andrea Bohnstedt <andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] CCK cuts number portability fee for mobile user
> To: jwalu at yahoo.com
> Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Date: Wednesday, May 19, 2010, 1:54 PM
>
> 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<http://mc/compose?to=mureithi@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<http://mc/compose?to=kictanet-bounces%2Bmureithi>
> =summitstrategies.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.k
> e] On Behalf Of alice at apc.org <http://mc/compose?to=alice@apc.org>
> Sent: 18 May 2010 15:20
> To: mureithi at summitstrategies.co.ke<http://mc/compose?to=mureithi@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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www.ratio-magazine.com
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