Barely two weeks after CCK launched the mobile number portability, latest statistics released by the regulator indicates that only 8,000 subscribers have migrated their numbers as of April 13, 2o11.
This amidst the claims from the mobile phone companies accusing each other of sabotaging the process and frustrating outbound subscribers in a bid to lock them in within their network, and which CCK has gone public to deny that this is not the case.
The reasons for the low uptake in porting requests have been attributed to two major aspects that define the unique Kenyan calling habits.
Firstly, quite a number of the subscribers have at least two SIM cards, enabling them enjoy services of two or more networks (I have to admit I am one of them, and frankly, not bothered at all with migrating when I can still enjoy the benefits of the two networks subscribed to).
Secondly, the issue of long delays before porting and the porting fee which locally has been capped at KES 200 is also another factor. The cost is way above that of purchasing a new SIM card that can cost anywhere from KES 10 to KES 50, and besides providing more than two hours of talk time in this era of KES 1 per minute call.
Porting Access Kenya Co Ltd targets at least 300,000 ports a year, for it to break even. To meet this (impossible), the firm must process over 25,000 ports a month (so far they might get 16,000 porting requests in April if the momentum is sustained). This casts doubts whether Porting Access Kenya Co Ltd might return any profits.
The firm’s local partner has spent € 2.5 million (KES 300 million) on the MNP platform and operations. The firm currently has 15 employees on its payroll.
Mobile phone firms have introduced a number of offers to tempt subscribers to port.
Safaricom says it invested KES 800 million (USD $10 million) in new equipment and service awareness.
Telkom Kenya's Orange says it has spent KES 360 million (USD $ 4.5 million) .
Analysts say the service came four to five years late into the Kenyan market.
And this was confirmed by a study conducted by TNS RMS, which indicated that in Kenya, multi-SIM holding is a common practice with 40% of the mobile phone subscribers holding more than one SIM. The results of the study by TNS Mobile Life study is quite interesting and looks at other aspects of mobile telephony across the world. You can access at www.discovermobilelife.com.
