{"id":551429,"date":"2007-02-01T08:31:10","date_gmt":"2007-02-01T08:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/wordpress\/technology\/551429-analysts-count-on-porting-for-cellphone-shake-up.html"},"modified":"2007-02-01T08:31:10","modified_gmt":"2007-02-01T08:31:10","slug":"analysts-count-on-porting-for-cellphone-shake-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/technology\/551429-analysts-count-on-porting-for-cellphone-shake-up.html","title":{"rendered":"Analysts count on porting for cellphone shake-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ability to switch networks and retain your number will become just one of several factors to consider when customers decide whether to renew a contract with their existing network or to defect to a rival operator. <\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cIt will shake up the industry in as far as services and offerings go. They will be more aware of retaining customers and we will get better services and customer care,\u201d analyst Steven Ambrose said this week. <\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cAs the networks take their customers\u2019 needs more seriously, it will definitely improve the overall service and add to the driving down of prices.\u201d <\/font><\/p>\n

The initial response to porting has been dire, with only 23000 customers using the multimillion-rand service since its launch on November 10, according to figures from Cell C. But now the service is active there should be a steady and constant take-up. <\/font><\/p>\n

Because most people who are likely to switch are on a two-year contract, only one customer in every 24 will be considering porting at any given time. It will take two years before all contract customers have faced the decision of renewing their contract or switching network. <\/font><\/p>\n

At the moment the process was still a pain, said Ambrose. <\/font><\/p>\n

At first only 50% of users who tried to change networks saw the process completed successfully within a day. That had now risen to at least 80%. <\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt it\u2019s been a long, arduous and very difficult process for most people. From a customer perspective it\u2019s definitely not a failure, but it is a schlep,\u201d said Ambrose, a director of the research house World Wide Worx. \u201cGiven another six months the process will become fairly automatic and smooth.\u201d <\/font><\/p>\n

Ambrose believes large companies will drive the movement over time, as they group all their staff onto one network to eliminate costly interconnection fees. <\/font><\/p>\n

In a survey World Wide Worx conducted before portability launched, about 26% of consumers said they would switch networks, mainly in a quest for cheaper calls. <\/font><\/p>\n

Ambrose said that was a highly inflated figure compared with how many would actually move, particularly as the fees charged by the rival networks are so similar. \u201cThere is tremendous parity across the prices. They call it customer choice, but in many cases it\u2019s customer confusion.\u201d <\/font><\/p>\n

If the operators were smarter they would treat portability as a way to improve their service instead of seeing it as a negative, Ambrose said. If the networks made sure porting was easy, customers could return to a previous network after a couple of months if they preferred. <\/font><\/p>\n

Although portability gives users freedom to hop networks, it may have little effect in practice, believes Markinor director Heidi Brauer. \u201cPeople like stability and it\u2019s too much time and effort to switch,\u201d she said. <\/font><\/p>\n

Even a lower price would not necessarily make them move, because value for money and quality of service were more important than the actual cost. <\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cWe sometimes think consumers are smarter than they are,\u201d Brauer said. \u201cEverybody whinges about price, but ask them what they are paying and they can never tell you.\u201d <\/font><\/p>\n

Comments<\/a><\/p>\n

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CELLPHONE number porting will be a slow-burning success, gradually leading to better services and lower prices, analysts believe. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-551429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551429"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551429\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}