[kictanet] Airtel accuses Safaricom of sabotaging Mobile Number Portability

Tue Apr 12 16:47:47 EAT 2011

That complaint by Airtel did not come as a surprise to me. For, there had been tale tell signs from the beginning. First, Safarisom had been the least enthusiastic about number portability. This was understable to me, though, because, as the market leader they stood to loose the most. But then I had not anticipated renegade behaviour from Safaricom and, worse still, failure to tame this kind of anti competition behaviour by the Communications Commission of Kenya. There are several things Safaricom is doing: First, they just dont complete the porting process of those who want to move from Safaricom to another provider. Second, where the porting is completed at all, they block the line, so the subscriber finds that he/she cannot be reached. This, in any fair business environment, is unacceptable and it would not have waited until one side cries foul. Someone at CCK is clearly sleeping on the job. 

OTSIENO NAMWAYA
P.O BOX 7509 - 00200
+254-733-893550
NAIROBI
KENYA

From: stephen at cofek.co.ke
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2011 16:08:38 +0300
Subject: [kictanet] Airtel accuses Safaricom of sabotaging Mobile Number Portability
CC: kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
To: onamwaya at hotmail.com

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)
Natu Court, Block F-45
Ngong Road/Ring Rd Kilimani Junction
P.O Box 2733-00200, City Square, NAIROBI, Kenya
Tel. 254-20-3861718, 3861719, 2300859
Fax. 254-20-3861719 
Cellphones: 0715555550, 0736965590, 0770700007
E-mail: hotline at cofek.co.ke
Website: www.cofek.co.ke
*************************
Restoring Consumer Pride and Confidence!
airtel accuses Safaricom of sabotaging Mobile Number Portability
by Airtel Kenya 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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