Sunday, May 31, 2009

Uganda: the regulator has decided to delay the introduction of mobile number portability because of the costs

[cellular news] ­Uganda's telecoms regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) says that it does not see the need for mobile number portability in the market in the near-term future. The regulator was commenting on a study it commissioned last year.

"At this stage, number portability is not something we see as a remedy in this market," Patrick Masambu, the executive director of the UCC, told Computerworld. "We carried out a study into this and we have the conclusion that there is a certain subscriber sum we need before we introduce number portability because of the costs involved."

He added though that once the country has passed the 10 million subscriber mark, then MNP could be viable. Based on figures from the Mobile World analysts, the country ended last year with around 8.5 million subscribers (although that has since passed 9 million), which represents a population penetration level of 28%.

Uganda Wont See Number Portability Until at Least Next Year

No comments: