Safaricom Welcomes Number Portability, Ready for Rollout

Tuesday, March 22, 2011...Integrated communications firm Safaricom has welcomed mobile number portability and expressed its readiness to roll out the system ahead of the April 1 deadline.

"We have aligned all the critical systems and are ready to implement the protocol from the April 1 date as set by the regulator Communications Commission of Kenya. We hope other operators are equally prepared. We are alive to the fact that MNP can only work in an environment where all operators are ready," said Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore.

He said inter-operator tests carried out so far by Safaricom and one of the operators as instructed by the CCK had shown a "system that works". He hoped that tests with other operators will be comparable and welcomed mobile phone subscribers to take advantage of the new protocol to migrate and enjoy Safaricom's peerless proposition.

"Porting presents immense opportunities for us. We look forward to welcoming more subscribers to our network to enjoy our bouquet of services that include an unmatched data proposition backed up the country's only 3G network and its most extensive WiMax infrastructure; the widest national coverage by geographical area and numbers, better and ever-improving customer service and a globally-acclaimed mobile money service (M-PESA) that has evolved into a national facilitator for m-commerce, with a footprint in all parts of Kenya," added Mr Collymore.

Set to commence on April 1, MNP allows subscribers to migrate across networks while retaining their original number. Porting subscribers are expected to pay a fee of Sh200 to Porting Access, the company appointed to administer the porting process.