The much anticipated mobile number portability (MNP) move is set to begin today. There has been widespread speculation that mobile operators are not ready for MNP, drawing emotional responses from the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) and mobile operators that indeed, today Kenyan’s will experience MNP as scheduled. As much as many subscribers in Kenya do not clearly understand what MNP is, we all should be celebrating this move as it as a major milestone in Kenya’s telecommunication industry.

The journey

MNP is a telecommunications service that enables subscribers to retain their telephone numbers when changing service providers, service types, and/or locations. The journey towards MNP dates back to 21 June 2010, when CCK issued M/S Porting Access (K) Ltd with a license for provision of MNP services in the country.
In December 2010, Kenyans witnessed the signing of a service agreement by the four mobile operators in the country - Airtel, Safaricom, Orange and Yu – with  M/s Porting Access Kenya Ltd for the implementation of MNP.
According to the agreement, there will be a maximum charge of not exceeding Kshs.173 (exclusive of VAT) for each number port and a Service Level Agreement. The agreement also provides for the establishment of an MNP working group consisting of representatives from all operators. The MNP working group will collectively implement and manage the provision of porting services.
MNP was set to come into effect on 1 April 2011, three months behind the earlier scheduled date of December 31, 2010.
Why the fuss over MNP?
Many subscribers have two or three phones, each with its own SIM card running with a different service provider. A few subscribers have one phone that has dual SIM capabilities – though phones that can provide such features and are of good quality are very few in the market.
MNP comes in to prevent the need of having more than one phone, or more than one sim card. With MNP, mobile numbers will be ported across various networks. Subscribers willing to port their numbers between operators will fill an application form, requesting to be ported. Each port is expected to take a maximum of 48 hours. After the port, subscribers would be issued with a new SIM card by their new operator, which would now bear the number ported from the previous operators.
There is a 60 day cooling period before a subscriber can be allowed to port again. A subscriber will continue to enjoy services of the old operator till they hand back their old SIM card to their incumbent operator.
Only numbers will be ported

Representatives of the operators were quick to point out that only numbers would be ported, other services including mobile money services such as M-PESA would not be ported, but subscribers can enjoy Yu Cash that is already available across all networks. Subscribers can also look forward to increased competition from operators, including promotions that offer to port subscribers from other networks for free.

MNP guidelines are available on the CCK website.