“With
the new system …that number is yours. It allows consumers to be in control of
the number and gives the consumer power over the provider”
Minister of Science,
Technology, Energy and Mining, Phillip Paulwell speaking about the extension of
the implementation of MNP and LNP during a meeting with Telecom Providers at the
Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining
It
has happened yet again, despite the best efforts of Minister of Science,
Technology, Energy and Mining, Phillip Paulwell.
The
Telecom Providers have yet again declared that the implementation MNP (Mobile
Number Portability) and LNP (Landline Number Portability) had been delayed as
reported in the article “Extension
Granted For Number Portability”, published June 1, 2015 By O. Rodger
Hutchinson, The Jamaica Information Service.
MNP
and LNP should have been implemented on Sunday May 31st 2015 as I'd
predicted in my blog
article entitled “Minister
Paulwell affirms MNP, LNP Coming May 31st 2015 - Why NPATPPR, IXP Deadline and
VoIP Registration herald MNP, LNP for NANP Number Ranges and Competition”.
Instead,
the Telecom Providers have been granted a twenty one (21) day extension to the
date Monday June 22nd 2015.
This
date was announced when Minister Paulwell met with Telecom Providers at the Big
House aka the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, where their
representatives had argued for the implementation of an extension to complete
testing on the integration of the NPA (Number Portability Administrator) into
their systems.
That
NPA is Porting Access B.V. of the Netherlands as announced on Friday March 13th
2015 as per my blog
article entitled “Jamaica
has selected Porting Access B.V. for NPA – How NPAS will provision a TPRR based
CRDB from the Land of Windmills and Carrier-Free SIM Cards”.
Minister
Paulwell spoke on the role of Porting Access B.V. of the Netherlands in
providing their services as a NPA, quote: “Their role will improve the management
and coordination of all activities relating to the central database and the
central order handling system, which are the key components in supporting
number portability”.
And
as usual, the JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) Opposition Spokesman on Science, ICT
& Digital Society Development, Dr Andrew Wheatley, has raised Cain as it
relates to the delay without adding much to the discussion as to why the delay
occurred as noted in the article “Wheatley
Bashes Paulwell On Missing Number Portability Deadline”, Published Monday
June 1, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.
He
is however right on one point; this is the fifth delay for MNP and LNP since it
was last delayed until December 2014 and set for May 2015 by Minister of State
in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Julian Robinson as
declared in my blog
article entitled “MNP
and LNP coming in May 2015 - MNP and LNP in Jamaica delayed as Sheriff Julian
Robinson caught in a Telecom Providers Standoff”.
So
what are these technical difficulties that the Telecom Providers are
experiencing? Simply put it's really a case of not enough smartphones in
Jamaica.
Telecom Providers delay
MNP, LNP – Unwilling to unlock Smartphone for mismatched Demographic
Despite
the massive sales of Smartphone by Telecom Provider Digicel, with almost 1/3 or
1 million customers now having purchased a smartphone as per my analysis in my blog article
entitled “Digicel’s
Million Man Smartphone Army – How Alcatel One Touch Dual-SIM is a setup for
MNP, LNP Smartphone Gamechanger”, not many Jamaicans have a Quad-Band
smartphone.
That
massive sale I'm referring to involved the DL750, the DL800 and the DL900 in
December of 2014 as chronicled in my blog article
entitled “JA$6,950
DL750 and JA$8,250 DL800 on Sale at Digicel – Alcatel One Touch Pop C1 as ZTE
Force Awakens and Alcatel’s Empire Strikes Back”.
For
this reason, not enough Jamaican have a Digicel or LIME smartphone to really
take advantage of the service. Digicel and LIME realize this.
This
is why LIME frequently has sales and Digicel has now implemented a Trade-in
Loyalty Points Programme, exchanging old phone for Loyalty Points towards a new
Smartphone as reported in my blog article
entitled “Digicel's
Trade-in Loyalty Points Programme - How Digicel benefits from Trading Old
Cellphones for Smartphones with Jasmine for Plants vs Zombies upgrade”.
Also,
among those that have a smartphone may do not have a Quad-Band smartphone or
the money to unlock their Smartphone to take advantage of the offer.
Most
likely too, the majority of the smartphone purchases were by Millennials (ages
18 to 28), as Generation X (ages 29 to 45) and older people (ages 46 to 69)
possibly had no interest in smartphones, being as they only text or make phone
calls.
The
Millennials who have a smartphone most likely use free calling plans being
offered by the Telecom Providers such as Digicel Zero as described in my blog article
entitled “Digicel
launches Digicel Zero - How @Digicel_jamaica is testing VoLTE vs @WhatsApp's
Free Voice Calling to boost smartphone sales”.
LIME,
meanwhile offers low cost smartphones, flat-rate Calling and a very slow
rollout of "4G" Wireless Broadband, which is really HSDPA+ (High
Speed Downlink Packet Access) or
3G+
as reported in my blog article
entitled “@LIMEJamaica
4G not in Rural Jamaica - Why Summer 2015 in Clarendon will be a
@Digicel_Jamaica Zero Summer”.
Because
Millennials might not necessarily have a landline or any desire to switch to a
competing Network and the Generation X and older Adults might not have an
interest in owning a Smartphone, there is a mismatch in demographics as it
relates to who would be most likely to take advantage of MNP and LNP based on
their financial situation.
This
demographic mismatch prompted Minister Paulwell to request that the Telecom
Provider to offer unlocked smartphones or make the knowledge of how to unlock
the smartphone more widely available as argued in my blog article
entitled “How
Jamaican can access MNP and LNP by Monday June 1st 2015 – Windfall for Jamaican
smartphone unlockers as Quad-Band smartphones and Carrier-Free SIM Cards
Required”.
Also,
the lack of general interest in the technical details of their Smartphone means
many of them may not even know what a Quad-Band smartphone is or the advantage
of having one in order to access MNP and LNP Services.
In
summary, it all boils down to a lack of smartphones being purchased by the
right demographic that may be knowledgeable and interested enough to even care
about MNP and LNP in the first place.
Also,
smartphone prices are still too high with the current Digicel's Trade-in
Loyalty Points Programme and ongoing sales meeting the customer half-way in
terms of creating more options for customer to upgrade to a Quad-Band
smartphone.
Technical Problem is
Knowledge – Unlocked phones needed for MNP, LNP and NANP Number Ranges
I
suspect the above mentioned points are the “technical problem” that the Telecom
Providers is having, as they have had ample time to integrate the NPA Porting
Access B.V. of the Netherlands into their Telecom Systems.
So
it comes down to a matter of give and take; Telecom Provider either have to
start selling unlocked smartphones or unlocking smartphones on request in order
for the MNP and LNP Facility to be used.
With
that unlocking comes the possibility that the customer can run off to another
Telecom Network with their Smartphone they originally purchased from them. But
this is a risk the Telecom Providers have to endure and is really a reflection
of the degree of loyalty that the customers have to a particular Telecom
Provider’s Brand.
Otherwise, Jamaicans will be unable to
get access to additional Number Ranges from the NANP (North American Numbering
Plan) that would allow Competition in the Telecom Sector to come to Jamaica as
explained in my blog
article entitled “OUR
applies for new Area Code for Jamaica - Competition in Telecoms in the coming
Hunger Game Catching Fire of Mobile Computing”.
Telecom
Provider might not want competition. But without MNP, they cannot expand their
Networks to add on new devices that need to use additional Station codes. So
despite the fear of opening the floodgates to competition in Jamaica, their
continued stalling is more a case of cutting off your own nose to spite your own
face.
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