Telecommunications Services provider Airtel Nigeria has declared its readiness to absorb the influx of requests from consumers who wish to port to its network as the long anticipated Mobile Number Portability (MNP) for GSM operators in Nigeria finally takes off.
Speaking with journalists at the weekend in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of the Company, Segun Ogunsanya assured that with Airtel’s robust and expanded 3.75g network coverage, many Nigerian subscribers who had waited so long to join the “best friends network” could finally exploit the window offered by the MNP.
“I am happy to inform you that we have done all our homework and we are fully ready for the MNP go-live date. Airtel has transformed its network, investing over $1.5bn to improve network efficiency and quality. Airtel was the first telecoms operator to complete 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) Trial in Nigeria and also the first service provider to roll out HD (High Definition) Voice in the country.
“It is on record that Airtel has the largest and widest 3.75G coverage in Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recently scored us high in key Quality of Service parameters, saying we met all targets in a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Measurements carried out in December, 2012,” he said.
Also speaking at the event, Osondu Nwokoro, Director Regulatory Affairs and Special Projects who provided journalists with insight on how the MNP porting process works.
According to him, the porting process is fairly simple and can be done in 48 hours as all that a prospective customer who wants to port into the Airtel network needed to do was to visit an Airtel Express Shop, call a dedicated line, complete the port request form and send an SMS to 3232 and receive an SMS from NPC confirming the success of the porting.
Mr. Nwokoro further explained that the porting process does not attract any charges as the only requirement is that the subscriber should do the normal SIM registration which entails the provision of a valid national Identification Card or an International Passport or a Driver’s License.
Staff Writer
