Kenya Debuts Mobile Number Portability

If a user wants to port, they will have to place their request at a Retail Shop or Appointed Agent offering the services of the operator they wish to move to, surrender their SIM card to the current provider and get a new one after paying the fee.

According to the Communication Commission of Kenya, porting to a new operator will take anything between a few minutes and 48 hours between Monday to Friday excluding public holidays. The next porting request can only be made after 60 days.

The four mobile phone operators had earlier in the week said they are ready to roll out the service having done the inter-operator tests. After months tariff wars, MNP is expected to be the next battle stage as consumers can choose the mobile operator they feel offers better quality of service without the fear of changing numbers.

However, the practicality of the system in this market where people already keep multiple SIM cards has been questioned, given the high porting fee and the long process involved.

It should be noted that in Uganda, Telecom Companies are still resisting this policy.

Source: Red Pepper