The Mobile Number Portability Scheme: A Consumer Behaviour Survey
On the 22nd of April 2013, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), regulator of the telecoms sector in Nigeria, launched a Mobile Number Portability (MNP) scheme across the country. Plans to implement this scheme began in 2005 with the goal of putting it into action by the first quarter of 2013.
The MNP scheme is a telecommunications service that grants mobile phone users the freedom of changing network operators while still retaining their original mobile phone numbers. In other words, a subscriber will not lose his or her mobile phone number should they decide to move from one network provider to another. It is believed that this scheme will be beneficial to subscribers in the event of dissatisfaction or discontent with the quality of service (QoS) provided by their current providers, because of the convenience and ease that will accompany the ‘porting’ process.
With an active subscriber base of about 112 million as at January 2013, Nigeria is the largest market for GSM communications in Africa.
Objective
To examine the level of awareness of the Nigerian market on the mobile number probability service and the key factors influencing subscribers leaving their current network operator to their desired operator.