To many, it ought to be the much anticipated game changer in Kenya’s telephony wars; others are not so sure.
Why? For starters it seems limited to the cellular players and may not include fixed line telephone numbers. That in itself may not be particularly profound as the current number of active fixed lines pales in comparison to the active cellular lines. However, the users tend to be businesses which provide for high ARPU’s – quite a catch!
Fixed line numbers aside, a rather high portability charge of KES 200 (approx USD 2.4) will apply (compared to a new number & sim cost of KES 20-50 (approx USD 0.25 - 0.6)).
In addition to the steep portability charge, portability will not apply to other value addition services which will continue to be network dependant most notably of which are the popular cellular money transfer services.
The benefits of portability aside, many consumers already have multiple lines which allow them access to carrier- specific value services; a fact certain to mute the perceived benefits of number portability to many.
Comparing the portability effect in other relatively similar countries doesn’t eager particularly well for game changing. In India where Bharti and Vodafone both operate, the portability popularity has been less than 1% of the total customer base in the 5months portability has been operational.
All in all, it’s the customers that gain with number portability and its game changing possibility is a real boon to newer market entrants and quality service providers.
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