NCC Launches First Phase of Mobile Number Portability

Nigerian mobile phone subscribers have joined subscribers in other countries worldwide that port their numbers from one network operator to another with the inauguration of the first phase of the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) service by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)  yesterday in Lagos. The second phase would be inaugurated with the fixed wireless operators like Visafone and Capcom in due course, according to the commission.

Singapore was the first country to inaugurate MNP in 1997, followed by United Kingdom and The Netherlands in 1999 while Spain, Switzerland and Sweden inaugurated MNP between 2001 and 2002. United States inaugurated in 2003, South Africa in 2006 and Ghana in 2012 while Nigeria just joined the league.

Explaining how number portability works, the Chief Operating Officer of Interconnect Clearing House of Nigeria (ICHN), Mr. Uche Onwudiwe, said any subscriber, who wished to port their numbers would first have to visit the recipient service provider to make his intention known. “The subscriber is given a form to fill his personal details and would be asked to send 'Port' to a short code, 3232.

“When this is done, Interconnect Clearing House, the company with the hosting right to manage exchange of traffic for the MNP scheme, will then send a message to the telecoms operator, informing it of the intention of the subscriber to port from its network to another network. “The recipient network will then give the subscriber a new SIM card and a confirmation text is sent to the subscriber. “It takes 48 hours to complete the porting exercise,” Onwudiwe said.

"Mobile Number portability has been a huge success around the world, because it helps to level the playing field, giving all operators more opportunities to grow their subscriber bases and revenues. We therefore urge our service providers to make it successful," he said.     

All GSM operators were present at the inauguration where they expressed their readiness on the implementation of the service in Nigeria. Reeling some of the conditions for porting, Juwah said subscribers would be allowed to port to another network free of charge, once in every 90 days.

In technical parlance, Mobile Number Portability is a process that allows subscribers to migrate from one network to another, in search of better service quality, while still retaining the original phone number, irrespective of the network the subscriber chooses to migrate to.

Via ThisDay