The Number Portability Company — a very secret affair
TUCKED away from public scrutiny — using a nondisclosure agreement as “a veil of secrecy” — is the Number Portability Company (NPC), which acts as a type of automated clearing bureau of cellular and fixed-line phone numbers.The NPC is owned jointly by Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom and Neotel, each of which owns 20% and has board seats. The opaque company was set up in July 2006, a few months before consumers were given the ability to retain their phone numbers when they switched networks.This week, the NPC’s general manager, Clive Fagan, refused to provide financial statements or answer questions about how it is run.“Regrettably, as we are a private company equally owned by Cell C, MTN, Vodacom, Neotel and Telkom, we are not obliged to disclose our financials,” he said. “Also, in terms of nondisclosure agreements I am not at liberty to answer most of the questions posed.”He said that to answer questions in detail he would need unanimous shareholder approval.Fagan’s response, however,...
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