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THE DESIRABILITY OF NUMBER
PORTABILITY |
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The telecom sector, in which the GSM operators fell into, has
been saddled with lots of problem which has led to comments
from the millions of subscribers in the country. The era of
the global system for mobile communication, GSM, ushered in a
lot of social and economic benefits, a disposition has which
placed Nigeria in a position of relevance in the global sphere
of technological development.
The entrant in this arena with GSM companies like. MTN, CELTEL,
a name that evolved over the years from Econet to Vmobile and
now to Celtel, Globacom and the newly licensed operator,
Mubadala, since the early period of the new millennium, was a
welcomed development as the rapid changes that followed
brought a transformation and a re-orientation of the social
thinking and economic restructuring in the mentality of
Nigerians. The development of this sector as experienced by
the millions of subscribers was thwarted with hiccups
resulting from the quality of network service which is being
described as poor.
The poor quality of service from the operators is being hinged
on power and security problem, a situation which has bedeviled
almost all sectors of economic activities. This however,
resulted to stakeholder’s interest in looking for a way
forward, and the outcome was the Energy Summit held in August
2007 in Lagos. Resolutions were made and he outcome is yet to
be actualized by the various authorities concerned.
The GSM operators have in one forum and the other tried to
convinced their numerous subscribers that the quality of
service would be improved upon, a situation that brought into
play the interest of the Senate Committee on Communications
and the presidency. The use of tougher measures by the
Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, on erring operator
has led to some improvement in the sector. The various
operators have In the beginning of this year, embark on press
briefing on the steps taken to improve on their quality of
service. The development is seen by Nigerians as desirable as
the poor quality of service from the operators has drastically
affected their modes operandi.
According to Michael Foley, the Chief Commercial Officer for
Celtel Nigeria, number portability is a complex technological
infrastructure to put in place and it is being practiced in
South Africa. He said it is
something that they would work towards with the regulator and
the operators over time to bring and does not characterize as
an issue of network quality, not a panacea, does not solve
problems, for it provides a little bit of additional choice to
customers.
IT Analysts are of the view that NCC should hasten the process
of number portability, and put adequate measure in place to
arrest the complications associated with it. The issue of who
takes and dictates the billing system when a subscriber switch
from one network to another and the infrastructure involved in
interconnectivity.
Kenya just kicked off number portability and Ghana has been on
the issue for two years now. European operators would be
expected to allow number portability by 2009, and in Taiwan,
subscribers have started porting numbers.
Number portability is one of the major access for fair
competition in the GSM circle as the need for the various
operators to improve on their quality of service , as none of
them would like to loose its subscribers for the other.
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