[kictanet] Airtel accuses Safaricom of sabotaging Mobile Number Portability

[Stephen Mutoro]

Hi. Interesting development this must be. We would be happy to have your
views on this article below appearing on "Airtel Kenya" Facebook page (which
we are unsure if it is the company's official page). 


Kind regards,

Stephen

 

 

Stephen Mutoro

Secretary General

Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK)

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airtel accuses Safaricom of sabotaging Mobile Number Portability


by Airtel Kenya <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Airtel-Kenya/122273904502736>
on Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 3:46pm

April 12, 2011. The success of the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in Kenya
is at risk with reports indicating that some operators may be employing
under hand tactics to sabotage the MNP process, barely a week after its
launch. While lauding the Communications Communication of Kenya for making
MNP a reality at an event to welcome the very first customers moving to
airtel from other networks today, Managing Director Rene Meza raised a red
flag saying several anti-competition tactics were being used to block
customers seeking to move to its network. 

He said that whereas initial technical hiccups in the implementation process
had been deemed to be normal and expected, it is now emerging that some
operators are reluctant to address the bottlenecks expeditiously, going
against the spirit of MNP project of giving the customer freedom to own
their number and move to the network of their choice within the stipulated
terms. "How do you explain several complaints received from customers who
have opted to move their number to airtel from Safaricom being unable to
receive calls from Safaricom numbers for several days, while they are able
to communicate on all platforms on the airtel network with the same number?"
posed Mr. Meza. 

He said contrary to the regulations issued by the Communications Commission
of Kenya, some operators, especially Safaricom, were still trying to woo
back customers who had already ported out of their network. "It is amazing
that after completing the 48 hour porting process, some players had
deliberately declined to de-activate the old sim cards from their network.
In essence, what this means is that the customer has not completely moved to
his network of choice but is still held captive by Safaricom, an act that is
anti patriotic and gross abuse of dominance by Safaricom clearly designed to
beat efforts of the Government to fully liberalize the sector" he said. 

Prior to the implementation of MNP, all operators had expressed commitment
to ensure the service was implemented smoothly, a move that was seen as
another milestone in Kenya's telecommunication sector. Largely seen as the
next frontier in the battle for subscribers, the successful implementation
of MNP is a test-case for CCK's commitment to overseeing reforms in Kenya's
telecommunication sector. 

Mr. Meza added: "We have referred the matter to CCK since we feel that if
the anti-competition tendencies are not weeded out at the onset, customers
may not get a chance to enjoy real freedom and benefits of MNP. - END -

 

 

 

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