Nigeria Gets Mobile Number Portability

Nigerian mobile phone users will for the first time be able to port their mobile phone numbers to a different network without losing their current number. Nigeria’s mobile phone market has been at the receiving end of constant complaints about Quality of Service, and the number portability service will sure shake up the industry.  
                                                                                                         

“We have made all the necessary investment in infrastructure and manpower to make MNP a reality. We are confident that at the commencement date, we will be absolutely ready,” said MTN’s Corporate Services Executive Akinwale Goodluck before the launch.

Mobile Number Portability will initially be available among the GSM mobile operators such as MTN, GLOBACOM, ETISALAT, and AIRTEL, but a number of other providers are expected to join the service in the near future.

“NCC has adopted a phased approach to the launch of Mobile Number Portability service in Nigeria. The process to port to CDMA networks will begin as soon as the GSM porting process is completed and launched,” the NCC said in a statement.

Mobile Number Portability is available to both “Pre‐Paid” (Pay As You Go) and “Post‐Paid” mobile customers in Nigeria, which has a population of around 160-million with one of the highest rates of mobile use on the continent.

Giving more information, the NCC said that users will be able to port at anytime, but will be restricted to a 90-day window. “You can port at any time. However, you will be restricted from porting your number to a third operator or back to your original operator within 90 days of a previous port.”

By ITNews