[Voodoo Vince]

Full mobile number portability from June 13

IT'S official. From June 13, Singapore's 5.8 million mobile subscribers will be able to to switch operators without giving up their existing numbers.

The eagerly-awaited announcement by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) on Wednesday will give mobile phone users greater flexibility and choice of subscription plans, and boost competition among the telcos, which will have to offer better deals in future.

The Full Mobile Number Portability will replace the current solution where a mobile subscriber needs two numbers, so that calls to his old number are forwarded to a new one.

IDA said from June 13, anyone who wishes to keep their current number when they switch mobile operator, can do so by the next working day.

This spares them the hassle of updating their family, friends, and business contacts about a new number.

The new scheme allows a mobile subscriber who has switched operator to:

-- Retain full use of his mobile number, which will continue to appear on his contact's Caller-ID when he makes a call or uses the Short Message Service (SMS) or Multi-Media Message Service (MMS).

-- Continue receiving MMSes on his number from his previous mobile operator.

Pre-paid mobile subscribers can also enjoy the same benefits of retaining their numbers when they switch mobile operator.

IDA Deputy Chief Executive and Director-General (Telecoms) Leong Keng Thai said on Wednesday: 'Full Mobile Number Portability is expected to bring about a sea-change in Singapore's mobile market.

'Consumers will be empowered with greater flexibility to choose from the offerings from mobile operators. This in turn intensifies competition and pushes the operators to work harder to attract and retain their customers.

'As we can expect to see more competitive pricing or better value-for-money mobile service deals, even those who choose to remain with their current mobile operator should benefit.'

The move is also expected to open the doors to new business opportunities for non-traditional telecommunication service providers like wireless broadband providers and Voice-Over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers.

IDA said there are about 130,000 mobile subscribers who have ported their numbers under the current Call-Forwarding solution. This group of subscribers will migrated in an exercise from April 22.

As part of the migration exercise, these subscribers will be contacted by their current mobile operators, who will advise them on the migration procedures.

These subscribers will need to:

-- Decide by May 14 which number to keep - either the old number from the previous mobile operator or the new number issued by the current mobile operator, otherwise the new number will be assigned to them by default.

-- Consider informing their contacts about their choice of number ahead of June 13, which is the deadline for migrating mobile subscribers on the current scheme to the new solution.

Consumers can also refer to the Frequently-Asked-Questions on Full Mobile Number Portability on IDA and the respective operators' websites, to find out more about this new solution and its benefits.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2...ry_227813.html

[Mad Max]

Can't wait for that date.

[willfate]

wah good news...~~Destiny

[urawks]

i really longing for this..cos i dun intend to cahnge my no. forever..

[platform]

yes..no one can ever hav my number ^^

[Huaikong]

finally.yeah~~~

[phgoh]

haha.
kinda of useless for me.
im not changing anything.

[*StarDust*]

Will there be an administrative charge? If yes, how much?

[*StarDust*]

New round of competition as mobile numbers go portable
From June, a big hurdle to switching operators will be removed, prompting more intense fight to retain customers
By Alfred Siew, Technology Correspondent

CELLPHONE users can expect some intensive courting from their telecom operators, now that a date has been fixed allowing users to retain their cellphone numbers when they switch operators.

What is known as full mobile number portability starts from June 13, the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) announced yesterday.

The 130,000 cellphone users who now have more than one number will be allowed to pick which one to hold on to. Your telco will start contacting you from April 22.

This is the biggest shakeup in the mobile industry in recent years, removing the last remaining inconvenience of switching operators. This is likely to set off the latest round of competition among telcos here, with customers likely to benefit.

The move, however, has been slow in coming. It began with an earlier number portability service in 1997, which let users forward their calls to a new number when they switched telcos.

But it still meant that users had to inform contacts of their new numbers. They also could not forward multimedia messages.

IDA deputy chief executive Leong Keng Thai said the number of people switching operators may not be big, but the threat of them doing so will keep telcos on their toes.

'Existing customers will also benefit because now they (telcos) will want to try harder to retain you,' he said.

In fact, company director Annie Chua, 34, aims to use the ease of switching as a bargaining chip when her contract with StarHub is up.

'If all three telcos offer the same price, then I'll stay. But I plan to ask StarHub to give me more discount vouchers before I decide,' she added.

Telcos have long resisted full portability as it would mean investing in back-end systems to support the change.

But with the Government throwing in $5 million of the $33 million needed for portability, they fell in line, and are now gearing up for a fight.

Mr Foong King Yew of research consultancy Gartner expects SingTel with 2.3 million of the 5.8 million cellphone lines here to feel the impact of the change first, as the two smaller telcos, StarHub and MobileOne, would be gunning for its customers.

The flurry is expected to be temporary. Once users have decided on their telco when their current contract ends, they are likely to stay put for the length of their new contract.

Experts also predict that telcos will tie users to contracts that are longer than the current two years or so.

Telcos here have already started wooing users.

SingTel and StarHub offer a 'triple play' bundle of cellphone, pay-TV and broadband services, with discounts to those who sign up for more than one service.

All three have also tried locking in users by customising services. For example, family members and groups of workers can now share unused airtime, cutting costs.

How low can prices go?

Because of competition, deals have become more attractive over the years. A basic cellphone plan which cost $47 a month in 1997 now costs just $20.

Experts say further price cuts are quite probable, because telcos still have good margins.

Senior analyst Marc Einstein from research firm Frost & Sullivan said M1 is likely to be the most aggressive because it does not have pay-TV to bundle with its services.

'I won't say a price war will break out but the market will surely become more competitive,' he added.

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Sto...ry_227982.html

[angelican16]

CELLPHONE users can expect some intensive courting from their telecom operators, now that a date has been fixed allowing users to retain their cellphone numbers when they switch operators.

What is known as full mobile number portability starts from June 13, the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) announced yesterday.

The 130,000 cellphone users who now have more than one number will be allowed to pick which one to hold on to. Your telco will start contacting you from April 22.

This is the biggest shakeup in the mobile industry in recent years, removing the last remaining inconvenience of switching operators. This is likely to set off the latest round of competition among telcos here, with customers likely to benefit.

The move, however, has been slow in coming. It began with an earlier number portability service in 1997, which let users forward their calls to a new number when they switched telcos.

But it still meant that users had to inform contacts of their new numbers. They also could not forward multimedia messages.

IDA deputy chief executive Leong Keng Thai said the number of people switching operators may not be big, but the threat of them doing so will keep telcos on their toes.

'Existing customers will also benefit because now they (telcos) will want to try harder to retain you,' he said.

In fact, company director Annie Chua, 34, aims to use the ease of switching as a bargaining chip when her contract with StarHub is up.

'If all three telcos offer the same price, then I'll stay. But I plan to ask StarHub to give me more discount vouchers before I decide,' she added.

Telcos have long resisted full portability as it would mean investing in back-end systems to support the change.

But with the Government throwing in $5 million of the $33 million needed for portability, they fell in line, and are now gearing up for a fight.

Mr Foong King Yew of research consultancy Gartner expects SingTel with 2.3 million of the 5.8 million cellphone lines here to feel the impact of the change first, as the two smaller telcos, StarHub and MobileOne, would be gunning for its customers.

The flurry is expected to be temporary. Once users have decided on their telco when their current contract ends, they are likely to stay put for the length of their new contract.

Experts also predict that telcos will tie users to contracts that are longer than the current two years or so.

Telcos here have already started wooing users.

SingTel and StarHub offer a 'triple play' bundle of cellphone, pay-TV and broadband services, with discounts to those who sign up for more than one service.

All three have also tried locking in users by customising services. For example, family members and groups of workers can now share unused airtime, cutting costs.

How low can prices go?

Because of competition, deals have become more attractive over the years. A basic cellphone plan which cost $47 a month in 1997 now costs just $20.

Experts say further price cuts are quite probable, because telcos still have good margins.

Senior analyst Marc Einstein from research firm Frost & Sullivan said M1 is likely to be the most aggressive because it does not have pay-TV to bundle with its services.

'I won't say a price war will break out but the market will surely become more competitive,' he added.

[kriegs]

alright. lucky din recontract recently. Let see how they retain existing customers

[*StarDust*]

There will be more competitions to come. Best bargain deals and so on.

[TotalNV]

nice.... now i have the option of changing operator without changing my number.... cool! green star, you better treat me well... haahaahahahahaaa....

[*StarDust*]

Will the 3 operators ganged up to stop people from converting into another company?

[ethyne]

warhh!!!
can't wait for it!
I wanna freaking change from M1 to StarHub!!!
can keep my 10 year old number!

[Marchao]

Originally Posted by *StarDust*

Will the 3 operators ganged up to stop people from converting into another company?

Don't think they will do so since in business, they would rather wish that they could snatch over all customers from other companies and kick their opponents out of sight forever don't think that they will team up.

[CaRe]

Originally Posted by Marchao

Don't think they will do so since in business, they would rather wish that they could snatch over all customers from other companies and kick their opponents out of sight forever don't think that they will team up.

My friend told me that the 3 companies are partially owned by the government in a way or two.

[uyen]

this is good for some users.

[CaRe]

Strange, why Angelican post the same topic as *StarDust*?

*StarDust* Post- http://www.sgclub.com/singapore/full...tml#post850284

Angelican16 Post - http://www.sgclub.com/singapore/full...tml#post850362

[OleoCookie]

wow yea good.. but no plans of changing.. since starhub now gonna up my free sms to 2k.