Tigo unperturbed by mobile number portability

Tigo Ghana said contrary to the assertion that they were one of the companies opposed to mobile number portability (MNP), they are not in the least moved by the proposed implement of MNP in June this year.
Tigo Ghana CEO, Carlos Caceres said MNP had not made any significant difference in terms of movement of subscribers in any jurisdiction so Tigo is completely indifferent to its expected impact.
“The impact of MNP has not been more than between one and two per cent in any jurisdiction so we are not at all concerned about losing subscribers - neither are we expecting to gain any significant number of subscribers from the implementation of MNP,” he said.
MNP is a system that allows a subscriber of one network to migrate to another network but maintain his original phone number including the network code.
The system would be implemented in Ghana from June 30 this year, and many are expectant the leading networks are more likely to lose subscribers to the smaller one under MNP.
Mr. Caceres noted that the only concern Tigo has is for the system to be implemented well with a clean and reliable clearing house where every network can be confident to source information from during porting.
“We at Tigo are very confident that with our innovative products, services and promotions we will continue to keep and attract more subscribers even after MNP but we are not raising our hopes, and we are also not afraid of MNP,” he said.
He noted that the double target of meeting 100 per cent SIM card registration and implementing MNP all by June 30, 2011 is a huge task for the telecom industry and that can pose some challenges.
“But we expect that from March there will be a mad rush for SIM card registration to enable us cover a greater chunk of that before the June deadline,” he said.
Mr. Caceres stopped short of saying how many Tigo subscribers have registered their SIM cards as of now.
Other telecom operators are equally tight-lipped on the number of SIM cards they have registered so far out of the millions of subscribers they recorded at year end 2010.
But sources at the National Communication Authority said initial reports from the telecom operators indicate they have registered between 75 and 90 per cent SIM cards between last June and now.
Meanwhile March has been earmarked for verification of all registered SIM cards to ascertain the details of the persons behind the SIM cards registered.
The source at the NCA said it is only after verification that the actual number of registered SIM cards can be confirmed and revealed.
SIM card registration begun in earnest in June 2010 and all phone users are expected to register their SIM card by the close of June 30, 2011 or lose their phone numbers and every information on their SIM cards forever.
Telecom operators and the NCA have cautioned phone users to register the SIM cards in time in order to avoid the unpleasant situation of losing their phone numbers and important information.
Meanwhile Members of Parliament are yet to register their SIM cards.

Samuel Dowuona