Atcon Welcomes MNP, NCC Says Porting is Free

Lanre Ajayi, national president, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (Atcon), the umbrella body of telecom services providers in the country has commended the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and telecoms network operators for the successful commencement of the mobile number portability (MNP) system in Nigeria.

Mobile number portability is a new service offered by all mobile service providers that allows a subscriber to switch over to another service provider while retaining his existing mobile phone number.

Ajayi said that “It means deepened competition; it means freedom for the subscribers. It means if you’re unhappy with an operator, you can easily move to another one without losing your telephone number, which is essentially your identity”  

The Nigerian Communications Commission officially launched the MNP in Lagos last week and said that users of mobile lines in Nigeria can switch network subscription from one operator to another, using the same Sim card.

Dr. Eugene Juwah, executive vice chairman, NCC, said the portal switching is free and operator charging would be sanctioned if they charge for it.

“The vision of the commission is not only to provide access to telecommunication services to Nigerians at affordable cost but also to continue to provide the required stimulus and appropriate environment for the introduction of innovative services that will impact on quality telecommunication service delivery.” He added.

He said since consumers complain about poor Quality of Service(QoS), thereby buy many Sim cards and changing numbers, they can now switch to other networks without changing their numbers.

Juwah also said service providers would  be challenged to offer consumer friendly services and provide effective Quality of service(QoS). “Mobile Number Portability has been identified as one of such services that could further deepen the competition in the telecommunications market. With the growing reliance and dependency on mobile communications for our everyday socio-economic interactions, our mobile subscriber numbers have become our identity.”