Zong leading the pack - MNP-availed users on the rise in cellular sector

Courtesy Daily Times - By Muhammad Yasir

KARACHI: The mobile networks witnessed rapid increased in migration of their customers as trend of availing Mobility Network Portability (MNP) services recorded more than 5.6 million subscribers from January to August 2011.

MNP is a system that facilitates mobile phone users to switch over their mobile phone network without changing personal number and code. The cellular phone users carried out change of network because of service quality, affordability of tariffs, choice of bundle packages and value-added services offered by different service provider. According to the data made available to Daily Times the average number of subscribers, who shifted from old to new network have been recorded at 702,791 in the last eight months period that showed a tremendous success of the system and its usage.

The subscribers can migrate from their existing network to another with the same code and number more than one time with a gap of three months. The migration is completed within a couple of days by the operator for minimal charges. Zong is the leading operator having witnessed highest shift of users from other networks. It followed by Mobilink with handsome number of MNP-availed users in the period of last eight months. The rest of the operators are also witnessing increased traffic of MNP subscribers but their net base of migrated users are in negative with high number of users porting out compared with porting in.

Analysts said the mobile operators have been successful to create awareness about MNP services through advertisements and marketing campaigns that witnessed the increasing trend of using MNP services by subscribers.

The surging MNP service utility trend showed the intensity of competition among cellular operators, who are not only adding new subscribers in their base but also attracting users of other networks because of their service quality, tariff and packages. The operators are now more cautious for improving their services and offering new packages in order to retain their subscribers and attracting new and old users of the cell phone services, they added.

The overall users who shifted their networks through MNP are estimated to cross 15 million so far.

Pakistan is the first country of South Asia, which has implemented the MNP service. Over a period of three years since its inception in March 2007, it has witnessed consistent growth in service utility by the mobile phone users.