After series of
postponements, Nigerian communication commission, NCC, finally began
mobile number portability (MNP) on 22nd April 2013. This is good news
to gsm subscribers. The basic idea behind MNP is that a subscriber
on a particular network can switch to another network while still
retaining his/her number. For e.g you can port from
Globacom to Airtel and use airtel services while still maintaining
your 0805xxxxxxx number.
We gsm subscribers
always view promos and initiatives by gsm networks with a measure of scepticism because in most cases we do not get full value and
benefits of such promos. It is still early days yet, we will give them the benefit
of doubt and watch and see the outcome of this MNP.
Click here to read about the full procedure involved in porting your gsm number.
Click here to read about the full procedure involved in porting your gsm number.
Like all innovations, adverts are coming out and already there is a fierce ad war.
Mtn (the yello boys) drew the first blood by luring away Hafiz oyetoro aka “Saka” to advertise for them. Saka features in soap operas and yoruba movies but he is popularly known for his hilarious roles in etisalat adverts. This was a master stroke marketing move as it aptly described porting as saka moving away from etisalat to mtn. The ad was released on tuesday 23rd april. Click here to download the video to your mobile phone.
Watch the video below.
Airtel released their MNP advert on thursday 25th april. The video shows an upwardly mobile young man relocating from his “No3” diladipated house painted with a yellow colour to a new exquisite neighbourhood with nice houses painted with red colours and he sticks his yellow “No 3” tag to the door of his new apartment.
Watch the video below.
The ad appears to be a subtle jab at mtn.
Etisalat released theirs on friday 26th april. I thought they were going to diss mtn but they did not. The ad shows a young man appealing to subscribers to stay with 0809ja the network that works.
Watch the video below.
We wait for Globacom to bring out their own MNP advert.
As the competition rages on, we hope to get maximum benefits as the different networks roll out
incentives to entice their existing subscribers to stay with them and
to attract new subscribers. We hope they will reduce their call rates
and tariffs, improve network coverage, remove all hidden charges(they
always give with the right hand and take away with the left hand) and give
us unlimited internet data services.
I am particularly interested in the data services aspect. We have come of age to enjoy unlimited, high speed and uncapped data services in this country as it is experienced in other countries. Until 1gb internet bandwidth is sold for 100 naira i won”t be impressed. In the quest for better data services i have ended up using mtn, airtel, glo and etisalat sims. So i definitely won”t be porting. Will you be porting? The choice is yours to make.
Mehn this mobile portability issue is just there. I dont expect anything new from these greedy gsm operators. Like you i won"t be porting as all my sims are intact
ReplyDeleteMnp Procedure For Airtel is implemented in different ways across the globe. The International and European standard is for a customer wishing to port his/her number to contact the new network. MNP is a service that enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another and can do MNP Status Check.
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