NUMBER PORTABILITY A DELICATE EXERCISE

Sir,

Efforts by the Eswatini Communications Commission (the Commission) to establish a policy and regulations on number portability are indeed a welcome initiative in seeking to foster the development of a competitive communications sector.

It is interesting that while acknowledging the maturity of the market, the commission acknowledges that Swazi MTN has what it describes as a ‘huge chunk’ of the market share in comparison to other service providers.

Whether a policy on number portability will indeed foster a competitive market and allow new entrants with significantly less market share to compete for subscribers is obviously open to debate, however, what is probably not in doubt are the immediate benefits to consumers provided of course the commission adopts a policy that will ensure the elimination of barriers to number portability, tariff transparency for off-net calls and minimal porting costs.

While number portability may bring immediate benefits to the customers, the same may not necessarily hold true for the service providers who will obviously have to bear the costs of preparing their networks for providing number portability services.

Number portability is obviously a delicate exercise that should balance both the interests of service providers and the consumers and one only hopes that the commission will be able to strike a requisite balance that hopefully fosters a competitive market and allows subscribers the freedom to change service providers without having to change their numbers.

The commission should, however, be commended for its noble initiatives in considering a policy on number portability.

Nkosingiphile Jele

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