Mobile users will be spilt for choice in the coming months, as they will be given the chance to switch network operators without having to change their numbers.

This comes after the Department of Communications (DOC) ruled in favor of Mobile Network Portability (MNP).

The Sept. 30 edition of the Government Gazette laid down the requirements for Network Portability (NP). In brief, NP allows a mobile user that is currently on a certain network to port to another network without losing the original number.

A user is entitled to port to different networks provided that, after porting, the user must remain with the recipient operator (the network to which they have ported) for a minimum of two months, before porting to a third operator.

Telkom, Vodacom, MTN and Cell C have welcomed MNP, although there are mixed feelings about the process. The one common belief that all the operators have, is that network porting will boost competition among the operators.

Cell C?s regulations support manager, Mike Falconer, is very pleased with the regulation, saying that it will benefit Cell C, SA?s youngest network operator.

In order to prepare for this, Cell C has been planning for the implementation of NP for some time now.

Says Falconer: ?Subscribers do not switch networks because of NP, but as a result of traditional market drivers, service, network coverage and cost. Therefore Cell C will continue to improve its customer service, and offer a wide range of services to the consumer at the best prices.?

When asked if network porting has upsides and downsides, Falconer stated that there are very few negative aspects about its implementation. The positive aspects outweighed the negative ones, he says.

?The main positive is that MNP removes one of the barriers to customers switching networks, therefore creating more competition,? he says.

Vodacom, however, has raised concerns over porting, stating that subscribers may use portability to avoid paying outstanding phone bills.

The Government Gazette states that a donor operator, (the network that is porting a number) cannot reject an application from contract/post-pay account if the subscriber still owes money on that account, neither can it delay the porting until the account is paid off. It is only allowed to reject the application if the account is already suspended.

Vodacom SA?s corporate affairs director, Mthobi Tyamzashe, is afraid that this clause will lead to abuse by subscribers, which will result in the increasing risk of bad debt.

However, to curb the risk of unpaid bills and bad debt, the government has ruled that each mobile network operator whose subscribers have ported their numbers from another operator shall maintain and make available themselves, via a third party or via the Internet, free of charge a list of ported numbers of their subscribers.

This way, subscribers who have ported without settling accounts can still be tracked.

Telkom, SA?s national operator, has also agreed to NP. However Lulu Letlape, corporate communications, says that discussions involving network porting are underway. ?We will respond to all issues involving NP once we had time to reflect on them properly,? says Letlape.

Regulations and requirements for network porting were discussed and drafted by Icasa in conjunction with the network operators. It was decided that, in order to make network portability as smooth-running and glitch-free as possible, these rules must be followed strictly by the operators.

Another decision was that this process should be as cheap as possible. It was also decided that numbers that were unsuccessfully ported were not to be charged for.

However network portability is more than just porting a number from one network to another. It is a process that will require a huge amount of time, and, more than that, it will require a software solution that will support the process.

Kevin Greig, technology sales director at Oracle SA, says that Oracle has provided a software solution to support number portability in many countries, and, therefore, is ready to support the local initiative.

According to Greig, Oracle is in a position to provide the software to support NP. ?If our bid is successful, we will indeed provide the software.?

To ensure that the process will be problem-free from Oracle?s side, Greig stresses that Oracle will work closely with individual network operators and provide evaluation and scoping of the operators? infrastructure.

Working together on this project is what will bring about its success, he adds.

According to the Gazette, if all the operators work together with the actual implementation of NP, as they did with drafting the policy, it should be a smooth and successful process.

According to Falconer, the regulations provide a broad framework for a mobile number porting process, which should be quick, easy and hopefully cheap.

Falconer concludes: ?The success of network porting is also based on the fact that subscribers are well informed and educated about how and where to port, so the operators, service providers and Icasa must play a large role in educating the consumer to ensure the success of MNP.?