Fixed-line floor crossing
ALTHOUGH THE ABILITY to port from one mobile operator to another while keeping your cellphone number hasn’t seen a flurry of subscribers switching, the little guys – Cell C and Virgin Mobile – have long insisted the ability to do so is integral to a more competitive environment and the benefits will be seen in time.
There will also soon be alternatives to Telkom in the fixed line sector. And regulator Icasa is in the process of ensuring that subscribers will be able to switch from Telkom to second national operator Neotel and vice versa while keeping their telephone number.
But while it’s a fairly obvious thing to say that Neotel would benefit from the ability to port from one fixed line operator to the next – as it will be starting from a zero base – it will begin with an added short-term advantage over Telkom.
The process of fixed line portability, says Icasa chairman Paris Mashile, is fairly similar in nature to that of mobile number portability.
Mashile says the process was ongoing, with negotiations currently under way between Telkom and Neotel.
The difference arises in that fixed portability is dependent on geography. On a next generation network – such as Neotel has built – a consumer could port anywhere within a regional exchange (the 011 or 012 part).
However, because Telkom has yet to complete the upgrade of its network, porting is only possible within a local area (the three-digit part in the middle).
In fact, Neotel might be the beneficiary of that. For example, someone moving from Soweto to Sandton could keep his number if porting from Telkom to Neotel, but not if remaining with Telkom.
Finweek
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