number portability anyone?

[duncan drennan]

So today is supposed to herald the arrival of number portability!

Cell C has been pushing their advertising, and I caught the end of Virgin Mobiles ad on TV last night. Cell C was the first to declare that they would not charge a porting fee AFAIK (FYI - porting fee is the charge to change networks), with the other operators following.

Is there anyone here who will be changing networks? I'd like to know how the process goes. My contract is due to end in Q1 next year, so I'll be looking around then.

Please let us all know what your number portability experience is!

[Dave A]

Our organisation is going to be dealing with this in the next few weeks. I'd like to let the networks get over any teething problems first, though.

i'll be sure to give feedback if someone doesn't beat me to it.

[Alan]

As dave said wait and see who offers the best deals, the competition is hotting up.

[duncan drennan]

Well everyone, just keep your eyes and ears open for feedback from friends/family/colleagues who have gone through the process - I'm really interested to hear what the experience was like and whether that matches up with the advertising.

[Martin]

I spoke to a friend working in a cell shop about this today. They sell both Vodacom and CellC contracts. She says that ALL of the enquiries they've had so far were from people wanting to switch from CellC or MTN to Vodacom.

Me thinks this is going to backfire in CellC's face.

I have a CellC contract myself and I'm not all too happy with their data network. For voice and sms they're fine, but don't even try to browse the net on their network! Kinda like the early days of dial-up: watching those two little computers at the bottom right corner of the screen, hoping like hell they don't go 'dead' for too long.

[Dave A]

I have a CellC contract myself and I'm not all too happy with their data network. For voice and sms they're fine, but don't even try to browse the net on their network! Kinda like the early days of dial-up: watching those two little computers at the bottom right corner of the screen, hoping like hell they don't go 'dead' for too long.

Welcome Martin!!

I'm afraid Vodcom data can be a little shaky too. But then I think that the CellC signal is being carried by Vodacom...

[duncan drennan]

Interesting article on MyBroadband

In the first three days of number portability, Vodacom welcomed 60 new customers and lost 40 to the rival networks. But they are the most expensive customers it has ever won and lost, since Vodacom contributed R100m towards the system, meaning each person had cost the company R1m to handle, said CEO Alan Knott-Craig yesterday.

The effect was negligible given that Vodacom signed up an average of 29000 more subscribers every day � either first-time users or users defecting from another network without taking their number with them.

Full story on MyBroadband

[Marq]

The effect was negligible given that Vodacom signed up an average of 29000 more subscribers every day

I think that sums it up - this will be more a marketing and branding exercise rather than a wooing competition. I think most subscribers have tried at least two of the three and found them all to be wanting. There is no real benefit in the long run to change other than a really cheap deal - even then...are there any?

[duncan drennan]

I think the real effects are going to take a longer time to start to show. Lots of people are tied to contracts which means migrations will only occur later. Also big companies that want to move everyone will first take a while to see how well the system is working.

I say give it three to six months or so and then we'll start to see truer numbers

[Martin]

Welcome Martin!!

I'm afraid Vodcom data can be a little shaky too. But then I think that the CellC signal is being carried by Vodacom...

Thanks Dave.

True about the CellC signal being carried by Vodacom, but only about 20% of the time. As far as data is concerned, the towers only carry the signal. The operator has their own server(s) connecting to the net. This is where the actual problem comes in.

As a great example: I have a CellC contract - Data sucks and is expensive at R2 per MB. You can buy bundles, but why bother...

I have a second phone with a Virgin SIM. Data is excellent (only EDGE though, but still quite good). All of Virgin's traffic is carried by CellC towers or Voda towers, if CellC is not available.

ie. Same towers, WAAAY different experence.

Moral of the story: It's not so much the towers that are the problem, it's the operator's connection to the internet.

Oh yes, did I mention: Virgin charges 50c per MB straight up (prepaid or contract). No worrying about those stupid bundles.

I hope this makes sense.

[Dave A]

Oh yes it does. Thanks Martin.

I got a sense of the difference last night. Vodacom had issues connecting to USA based sites, no other network carriers were having the same problem.

[Dave A]

My son has just ported from Vodacom to Virgin. He's a pretty happy camper about it all.

It cost him R55, but he gets R50 in airtime, plus a whole bundle of Virgin goodies. The nearest thing to a hiccup is he did it on Friday evening. The actual switch only happens on Monday. Seems the porting only happens during working hours on weekdays.

And his real motivation - data at 50c per MB vs the R2 per MB he was paying at Vodacom.

[Dave A]

Just an update to say the porting went smooth as silk.

I only have one complaint - when you phone a ported number, while putting through the connection you get a rather shrill beep. Don't be in too much of a rush to get the phone to your ear.

[duncan drennan]

I only have one complaint - when you phone a ported number, while putting through the connection you get a rather shrill beep. Don't be in too much of a rush to get the phone to your ear.

I wonder if that is network dependant?

[Dave A]

Don't know. I was calling a Vodacom number that had ported to Cell C