NETWORK SWITCHING
Icasa to look at phone number portability
The Independent Communications Authority of SA says SA lags behind comparable countries
The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) may review number portability, for not realising its full potential. Introduced in November 2006, number portability allows fixed-line and mobile subscribers to keep their numbers if they switch networks. Called porting, it was meant to spur competition at a time when voice prices were high. The rationale was that if users could switch networks without losing their numbers, operators were likely to cut prices and improve services to retain customers or attract new ones. So far, 6.5-million numbers have been ported to mobile network operators. Icasa spokesman Paseka Maleka said that although there had been a strong increase in mobile portability among prepaid customers, the percentage of the switching, particularly in the contract segments, lagged comparable countries. About 48,214 numbers switch between mobile network operators each month. From April 2010 until March 2017, 921,009 landline numbers were ported at an average of ab...
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