Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Showtime for number portability
It's showtime!
Are you lining up to change wireless carriers today? Exercise your franchise. Vote with your feet. Show them who's boss.
Are you cutting the cord and moving your home number to your cell phone? Will anyone go the other way and move their cell phone number to a nomadic VoIP line? That may be the smartest move for frequent travellers. Use find-me forwarding capabilities from your VoIP provider to route calls to whatever number you may have as a way to avoid roaming charges.
Despite the media blitz this week (my colleague Roberta Fox was coast-to-coast on CBC radio on Monday morning and on CBC Newsworld on Tuesday), how many people outside of the telecom industry fully understand the term 'number portability'? With long term contracts, how many people are actually in a position to switch, now that portability is available?
How does someone switch? What does it cost? Where are the best deals? Will retailers really know how to make it work?
What if they threw a portability party and nobody came?
Update: [March 14, 3:30 pm]
See industry FAQ for more info on how to change carriers without changing your number.
Technorati Tags:
WNP, CRTC
Are you lining up to change wireless carriers today? Exercise your franchise. Vote with your feet. Show them who's boss.
Are you cutting the cord and moving your home number to your cell phone? Will anyone go the other way and move their cell phone number to a nomadic VoIP line? That may be the smartest move for frequent travellers. Use find-me forwarding capabilities from your VoIP provider to route calls to whatever number you may have as a way to avoid roaming charges.
Despite the media blitz this week (my colleague Roberta Fox was coast-to-coast on CBC radio on Monday morning and on CBC Newsworld on Tuesday), how many people outside of the telecom industry fully understand the term 'number portability'? With long term contracts, how many people are actually in a position to switch, now that portability is available?
How does someone switch? What does it cost? Where are the best deals? Will retailers really know how to make it work?
What if they threw a portability party and nobody came?
Update: [March 14, 3:30 pm]
See industry FAQ for more info on how to change carriers without changing your number.
Technorati Tags:
WNP, CRTC
Posted by Mark Goldberg @ 3/14/2007 06:34:00 AM 
Comments:
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In January, Analysys (a UK-based research firm) reported that anywhere Mobile Number Portability had been introduced, it was a bust - few people actually choose to port their number. The prime reason? Consumers didn't even know they could do it. On the contrary, MNP when introduced in Japan in November of 2006, didn't dramatically reduce prices, but the carriers there actually began to provide more services for the same price pre-MNP.
As further evidence that the Canadian industry is not competitive enough, one need only look at the advertising of WNP. When it was introduced during Thanksgiving Week in the US in 2003, almost every other commercial on TV and in every newspaper, was an ad from a cellular phone company offering a deal for jumping. Thanksgiving Week is an expensive time for advertising as it kicks off the Christmas retail season. However, the cellular companies felt they couldn't afford not to be on-air.
In Canada, any such frenzy? Nope! Any deals for switching? Nope!
Only in Canada you say? Pity
As further evidence that the Canadian industry is not competitive enough, one need only look at the advertising of WNP. When it was introduced during Thanksgiving Week in the US in 2003, almost every other commercial on TV and in every newspaper, was an ad from a cellular phone company offering a deal for jumping. Thanksgiving Week is an expensive time for advertising as it kicks off the Christmas retail season. However, the cellular companies felt they couldn't afford not to be on-air.
In Canada, any such frenzy? Nope! Any deals for switching? Nope!
Only in Canada you say? Pity
Posted by 
: 7:15 AM, March 14, 2007
: 7:15 AM, March 14, 2007
What's the new sound in Wireless today?
Unbelievably, it's "beep beep beep beep".
That's the sound you hear when you call the Virgin Mobile activation line. Perhaps Marketing forgot to tell the call centre about the free phone offer.
Why do all the old mistakes have to be made again and again in telecom????
:-(
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Unbelievably, it's "beep beep beep beep".
That's the sound you hear when you call the Virgin Mobile activation line. Perhaps Marketing forgot to tell the call centre about the free phone offer.
Why do all the old mistakes have to be made again and again in telecom????
:-(
Posted by : 8:18 PM, March 14, 2007
: 8:18 PM, March 14, 2007 << Home
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