Etisalat recieves 47% as ported lines hit 331,459 in Nigeria

Out of the 331,459 ported lines on networks of the four Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) companies in Nigeria, forty-seven per cent of the total ported lines were to Etisalat, according to the New Telegraph.

In the last two years of MNP launch by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) spanning May 2013 and June, 2015,  331,459 telephone lines have been ported.

Of this figure, Etisalat led the gainer’s chart by attracting 156,023 incoming ported lines to its network, representing 47 per cent of the total. Airtel follows this with a total of 106,691 ported lines coming onto its network, a figure that represents 32.1 per cent of the total ported lines in the country. Indigenous player, Globacom, came third with 45,901 ported lines equivalent to 13.8 per cent of the 331,459 ported lines.

MTN tops the loser’s ta-ble with a paltry 22,844 ported lines or 6.8 per cent of the total porting. Telecoms regulator introduced MNP two years ago to achieve some objectives in order to improve general quality of service in the industry.

Director, Public Affairs at NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, said that the scheme was launched “to promote healthy competition among telcos in the area of network improvement and quality of service delivery; and to create wider options for telecoms subscribers to have access to improved experience on any network of their choice.” He said that by making it possible for subscribers to switch from their existing network to a more preferred network without changing their original number, the donor network is kept on its toes, forcing it to invest in further network expansion that guarantees improved service delivery.



“Telecoms subscribers that do not feel comfortable with their current network can move to another network. With this initiative, the donor network would not want to lose its subscribers and therefore spend money on its network to retain its network,” he said. Consequently, since the porting service was launched, operators have been losing and gaining subscribers, as a result of the introduction of the MNP. Meanwhile, the NCC has released the ‘Nigeria Mobile Number Portability Business Rules & Port Order Processes’ which details the rules of the game regarding the relationship in the MNP value-chain.