’Thousands’ refused network switch
Virgin Mobile’s head of corporate affairs, Nicholas Moweni, said the two largest operators, MTN and Vodacom, were refusing to let customers go either because they owed the network money or because their numbers had been suspended for contractual reasons.
Virgin claims to have won more than 40% of the customers using number portability to hop networks. But 80% of the “thousands” of people who applied to switch had been refused permission by their existing networks , Moweni said.
Thousands of users were getting rejected by the “donor” network either because they were in arrears or because they had been suspended for nonpayment of their bills.
An operator cannot refuse to let customers defect because they owe money, nor can they delay the process until the debts are cleared.
But if the debt is so serious that the client has been suspended from making or receiving calls, then the network can refuse to let them port.
Moweni said he had asked the porting firm set up by the operators to clarify why so many were refused, and to ensure the operators were abiding by the rules.
“I’m worried we are losing customers. If 40% of the ports have come to Virgin, it’s in our interests to find out why others are being refused,” Moweni said.
Vodacom spokeswoman Dot Field said: “We are abiding 100% by the ethos of number portability.”
Vodacom had about 2000 people waiting to join its network in the next 30 days , she said.
Cell C said yesterday it was the biggest winner once its network sharing-deal with Virgin was factored in as it gained 56% of users changing networks. But as Virgin claims 40% of all wins, that means only 16% are joining Cell C itself.
Field said she did not know where Cell C got its figures as they did not tally with Vodacom’s.
Loading ...