Internet safari: MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY – Is this the next step ...

Internet safari: MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY – Is this the next step ...: "Barely a week into the introduction of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) only 300 people in Kenya have ..."

MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY – Is this the next step or will it be checked by Kenyan’s peculiar calling habits?

Barely a week into the introduction of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) only 300 people in Kenya have used the service out of a total subscriber base of about 16,000,000

Are you amongst the 300 people? Do you consider yourself a lucky user and if not what are your reasons for not using this service.

Maybe for us to understand more about MNP anyone who has used this service needs to share their most interesting experiences with us.

Do you own more than two phones with different sim cards? Is this why you don’t need MNP?

Did you know that Kenyan rank consistently amongst the 50 most innovative nations in the world? Yes, that is because of the creativity of you and others like you. So here is the gauntlet, In which way would you like number portability services to improve?

Let us know: the most innovative answer will be forwarded to Mr. Patrick Musimba the CEO of Porting Access BV who run MNP services in Kenya. Who knows, you could be the next Mark Zuckerberg !

Access Kenya What went wrong?

Opportunity turns nightmare

-AccessKenya’s troubles began when it issued a profit warning on December 15 last year that full-year profits would be 25 per cent lower compared to the previous year. This, coupled with governance issues, has been eroding investor confidence.

-Growing competition from nimble rivals has not given it breathing space. Mobile operators led by Safaricom and internet service providers like MTN Kenya and Kenya Data Networks have stepped up their game, causing a major shift in market shares.

This has seen the company turn to cost-cutting measures such as reducing borrowing expenses and renegotiatingbandwidth contracts with international cable owners.

Mr Jonathan Somen, the managing director, says some of the decisions made two years ago have come to haunt the company. “There is no secret about our profitability,” he says.

“We have learned a lot of important lessons. There were a lot of things we did that affected our business, but we have put measures in place to rectify the situation.”

One of them was investing heavily in infrastructure then the ground shifted suddenly as mobile phones entered the fray. Also, the acquisition of Openview Business Systems turned out to be disastrous, with the unit soon running into the red.

-What are your views and how can kenyan ISP providers improve and most important How can they avoid losses in the Kenyan Market?