From the point where Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) stepped in to champion the cause of the consumers in telecommunications, the competition has gotten interesting. Telcos have realized the time of offering less quality for more pay is up; it has now become a case of perform or lose.
Even though the improvements seemed slow in coming, consumers can testify that, eventually, the tariffs have become more favorable. Telcos also seem to be coming up with extra value added packages in form of free data, SMS bundles, free night calls and other such benefits.
Enter mobile number portability.
After a long and hard fight, the seemingly impossible concept of mobile number portability finally won, albeit in the face of high-powered lobbying. This would not be the first time the ‘impossible’ has become possible within the telecoms sector in Nigeria. Does anybody remember the days leading to the introduction of the per-second billing? Some said it was never going to be possible and they gave a myriad of reasons. In the end, all the excuses were practically dumped in the trash as pay-per-second took off. Even though one of the telcos – new to the market then – introduced it as a winning gimmick, soon enough, everyone else had no other choice but to adopt it. This tells you how intriguing the happenings in our peculiar tech space can become.
For those still quite green about the much talked about concept called mobile number portability, Wikipedia defines it as a process which enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another. Using a practical example, Saka, who was previously on network A, moved to network B without losing his phone number or having to get another one.
Still very fresh off the cards, it would be wise to take this as a first but highly necessary assessment of the evolving war-game. Sincerely, it does sound like a game – moving your number and its attendant assets from one network provider to another. First off, no one is too sure anymore what network they are calling. In turn, it defies the era of pre-calculating the tariff you intended to spend on a particular call. There is also the case of those who give out specific numbers for particular networks, I wonder if they would still be doing that. Talk about how much pragmatism our peculiar scenario has taught us to imbibe – sometimes having to carry three different phone lines – just so that we can communicate at all cost.
In an early assessment, the process still seems to be experiencing some teething problems. As a customer, if you intend to port your number, you would need to back up your contacts first or face the consequences. We also heard from that some networks have attempted blocking the process. If this is true, then they might be in for some serious upbraiding by the NCC. More so, doing that would be a bad way to go about relieving themselves of any fears. Why not try offering consumers more quality with a human and friendly face? That would work better.
According to the NCC, over 4000 subscribers from the four GSM operators switched their lines to other operators within 48 hours of the mobile number portability launch. If you ask me, I would say that there are so many conservatives waiting for the early adopters to dive in and give feedback before they make up their mind. No matter how long they wait, one thing is for sure: number portability is here to stay. We can only hope that the advantages far outweigh whatever issues it would bring along and at this time, telcos do not want to risk negative propaganda or be on the wrong side of word-of-mouth publicity.
One strong point that has definitely been reiterated is that competition tends to bring out the best in these companies. In the midst of all these, the customer so far seems to be the primary beneficiary. Essentially, it is pertinent to understand that as much as this war comes with its own benefits, we must also realize that it would come with its downsides too. Let’s hope NCC will be there to rescue us when that happens.
If you have had any experiences with the porting process so far, please share in comments below.
