Churn Faster!
By Simon Bisson & Mary Branscombe in Editorial
There’s number portability, and there’s number portability.
Last time I changed phone providers, it took over a week for my number to follow me to my new phone. We’re living in a world of personalised communications, where our mobile numbers are as much a part of our identity as out primary email addresses, and a week of number limbo is a long time.
Things look set to change, and OFCOM is on the case.
From September 2009 number portability should take only two hours. Switching operators should be a simple process, where you buy a new phone, turn it on, and your personal number follows you to your new device. It’s a process that should mean more people start following the coolest devices from network to network - as other OFCOM rulings mean that competition between networks will lead to devices being the only differentiating factor.
Of course the increasing length of contracts is going to have an impact - but number portability will mean that businesses should have the upper hand in any contract negotiations with their providers. If you can just up and take all your business numbers with you, your account manager is more likely to listen to your concerns - and the operator will be more likely to offer the services your business needs, rather than the services that are cheapest to offer.
It’s interesting to look at the effects of fast number portability on markets like Hong Kong, where competitive pressures have led to extremely low contract costs - and where consumers chose networks based on the devices offered - and business look at the services. Mobile telephony is becoming a commodity, just like landlines, and operators will need to move themselves up the value chain in order to stay ahead of the competition.
Certainly if operators don’t do something fast then they’re likely to be in the same place as the music industry is today. Big changes are already underway: in the US Google is bidding for a slice of the 700MHz spectrum. Meanwhile, Apple has already asserted its control over AT&T (and the European iPhone networks), by separating the device experience from the network. It’s all adding up to a future where mobile operators are increasingly irrelevant.
One response is coming from Verizon, which has just announced that it will open its network up to any device. That’s a brave move, but one that means they can move out of the handset business, leave that to the manufacturers (along with the support costs!), and can concentrate on building out and improving the network and the network services. That’s where Verizon’s strengths are - it’s a network. The phones are access devices that can come from anywhere and anyone. As long as they meet the standards, they should be able to connect…
So who’s going to be first to offer the same service in the UK?
–Simon
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Loading ...Comment by - December 3, 2007 on 2:20 pm
I am the mobile providers worst customer as I switch every time a contract ends unless the company gives me a VERY good reason not to As such over the past 5-6 years I’ve had a great deal of experience of the porting process - and only once has it taken over 6 hours to complete - 1-2 hours being typical. I have kept the same number since I have had a mobile, so anyone who had my number from University days still has my number!. The order has been : One2one -> Orange -> Vodafone -> Virgin Mobile - > Three.
The big issue currently with porting imho is you dno’t know when it will occur, merely in which week. So suddenly old phone stops working, and typically new phone working 1-2 hours later. So for one week, you are a 2 phone person, and if you don’t spot the changeover you have the wrong phone on for a period! Hopefully the above changes will improve this.
I better not tell Three I’m not considering moving this time as I’ve fell in love with their data network being able to handle me watching TV on the train on the 1hr 20 mins it takes me back from the city!
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