An awareness programme on implementation of the long-awaited mobile number portability service is expected to be carried out by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA).
It said the mobile number portability service will start operating before the end of this year and a contractor to supervise it has already been picked. TCRA Communications Manager Innocent Mungy told The Guardian yesterday in Dar es Salaam that they were still discussing with telecommunications firms to buy equipment for the new mobile number portability service.
He said the awareness programme will first be carried out by TCRA members of staff. Afterwards the mass media will be used as well as seminars for stakeholders and the public, he noted. “We call upon people to be patient while the TCRA works on the matter and soon the service will be in operation. It aims at increasing competition among mobile firms that would make consumers get affordable tariffs,” he said
According to Mungy, one of the mobile number portability sections requires subscribers to inform telephone operators the period under which their phone would be operating through them before switching over to another operator. Mungy noted that, to avert business disputes, telecom operators have to agree on modalities of operating the new service.
In 2012 TCRA announced that it would introduce mobile phone number portability in the country. It said when ready it would not affect value added services as customers shift from one provider to another.
It said the mobile number portability service will start operating before the end of this year and a contractor to supervise it has already been picked. TCRA Communications Manager Innocent Mungy told The Guardian yesterday in Dar es Salaam that they were still discussing with telecommunications firms to buy equipment for the new mobile number portability service.
He said the awareness programme will first be carried out by TCRA members of staff. Afterwards the mass media will be used as well as seminars for stakeholders and the public, he noted. “We call upon people to be patient while the TCRA works on the matter and soon the service will be in operation. It aims at increasing competition among mobile firms that would make consumers get affordable tariffs,” he said
According to Mungy, one of the mobile number portability sections requires subscribers to inform telephone operators the period under which their phone would be operating through them before switching over to another operator. Mungy noted that, to avert business disputes, telecom operators have to agree on modalities of operating the new service.
In 2012 TCRA announced that it would introduce mobile phone number portability in the country. It said when ready it would not affect value added services as customers shift from one provider to another.
According to TCRA, some key services, including mobile money banking, have also been taken into account in formulating regulations for the service. Opening the Fifth International Mobile Number Portability 2012 Summit, the minister of Communication, Science and Technology, Prof Makame Mbarawa, said the service would have come into operation by early 2013.
He said the government had formulated regulations for the service and directed mobile phone companies to complete the process of shifting to the new system. The minister directed TCRA and telephone operators to educate the public on the new service to make people benefit from it.
Prof Mbarawa said the service will be free and the government decided to introduce it to create competitiveness among mobile phone companies. Mobile phone subscribers should not to be worried of their value added services such as mobile/sim banking-once they switch over to other operators, he said.
This is because the services would also be transferred to the new providers with their status remaining intact, according to Prof Mbarawa. He said the service was good, but most Tanzanians were not aware of it. If not well educated, he added, they will not be able to use it effectively.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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