Tonderai Rutsito TechnoMag
The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) should swiftly move in and implement mobile number portability to cushion Zimbabwean subscribers against involuntary network choices.

Mobile Number Portability is a technology that allows subscribers to migrate from one mobile network to the other without changing their phone numbers.

This makes the phone number a virtual service which is not network dependent but a mere identification number for calling purposes.

According to a survey done by TechnoMag during the recent Standard Global Communication seminar on reducing communication costs, we discovered that 90 percent of Zimbabweans are ready to move from their current networks to the other if given the opportunity to retain their cellphone numbers.

This only goes to prove that millions of the total subscribers in Zimbabwe are only loyal to their mobile network as they desperately protect their old cellphone numbers, the only link that keeps them connected within their old and new circles.

Responding to questions during the seminar, a representative from Potraz, Mr Shingirayi Marufu, said the regulator has to go through certain consultative processes and also work with the parent ministry on implementation as this was also a policy issue.

However, the general consensus was that the regulator has not been making this issue a major priority as they have had six months of complete silence since they initiated their consultative meetings on the implementation of the technology. The introduction of MNP will see networks in slumber sink into oblivion as subscribers will massively migrate to better service provision.

Lately we have seen all the mobile network operators introducing exciting promotions with voice and data bundles in search of relevance. This has seen an average call costing only 10 cents per minute from both Econet and Telecel, while Telecel has managed to maintain the promotion outside their own network.

NetOne has remained Zimbabwe’s most affordable network provider with their dollar offering 30 free minutes during peak hours and unlimited calls after hours for intra calls while they still offer extra four minutes of inter calls at 25 cents per minute outside their network.

The world over, Mobile Network Portability has seen a great shift in subscribers. Ghana and Kenya saw more than 500 000 subscribers in total migration from one network to the other since the implementation of MNP.

Mobile operators all concurred that they were ready to implement this revolutionary technology and were not at all threatened by the prospects presented by it.

Zimbabweans would greatly appreciate such a technology and the onus still remains with the regulator to finalise their due procedures with all the relevant stakeholders to see this to completion.

  • The writer is the Editor of TechnoMag, Zimbabwe’s premier technology magazine. More in-depth on www.technom.ag/b1 follow us on Twitter @TechnoMagzw, www.facebook.com/technomagzw mail [email protected]

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