It's has now almost been two (2) whole months since the
implementation of MNP (Mobile Number Portability) and LNP (Landline Number
Portability on Monday June 22nd 2015 as declared in my blog article
entitled “Number
Portability now possible in Jamaica - How the NPA creates efficient Number
Range Management as Third Telecom Provider Coming”.
The rules are now in place to facilitate Porting your number
from one Network to the other as detailed in the article “What
You Need To Know About Jamaican Number Portability”, published Monday July
13, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.
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Best of all, the Telecom Providers are quite pleased with
the renewed activity and interest in their Telecom Services that Number
Portability seems to be generating as noted in “Number
Portability - Almost Two Weeks In, Digicel And Lime Pleased”, published
Saturday July 4, 2015, The Jamaica
Gleaner.
So too is the Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and
Mining Phillip Paulwell when it was announced that some two hundred (200) persons
had made use of the facility and had ported their numbers as reported in the
article “Technology
Minister Pleased with Implementation of Number Portability”, published June
24, 2015 by Latonya Linton, The
Jamaica Information Service.
A recent Tweet by Minister of State Julian Robinson on Tuesday
August 4th 2015 suggests that
as of Friday July 31st, 2015:
1.
14,709 numbers have been ported in total
2.
3,255 in June 2015
3.
11,454 in July 2015
Number
Portability Stats: As at July 31, 2015, 14,709 numbers have been ported. 3,255
in June and 11,454 in July @TheOURja
@MSTEMGovJM
@jis
—
Julian Jay Robinson (@julianjay) August
4, 2015
With no official word from the Media, these figures are the
closes we Jamaicans have to an update as to the success of Number Portability. So
what are the criteria for a customer to Port their Number?
Conditions
required to Port your Number - All Good Customer go to Heaven in 90 Days
Based on this PSA (Public Service Announcement) by Yvonne
Grinam-Nicholson, Director of Consumer and Public affairs at the Office of
Utilities Regulation and Chair of the Number Portability Working Group
Sub-committee on Public Awareness, Number Portability is quite straightforward.
Number
Portability makes it even clearer.
Dual-Band phones e.g. Nokia feature phones with flashlight definitely
won't work, as they're dual-band.
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You’re better off with a Quad-Band smartphone and even
better if the Telecom Providers could unlock their smartphones as argued in my blog article
entitled “MNP
and LNP delayed to Monday June 22nd 2015 - Technical Problem is Customer
Knowledge, Misdmatched Demographics and no Unlocked Quad-Band smartphones”.
You’ll also have to get a new SIM Card from the provider
that you're planning to switch your number. That new SIM will have the phone
number from your previous Telecom Provider and as such will use their
frequencies, hence the need to have a Quad-Band smartphone.
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Interestingly too, the rules of Number Portability do not
allow for solicitation, so the Telecom Providers cannot launch campaigns to
encourage people to switch, as Telecom Provider LIME has been doing.
If you're postpaid, you'll have to check your Telecom Provider
to make sure that you've cleared all your bills in order to be eligible.
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Once that's done, then you're in the clear to achieve Number
Portability as noted in the article “Simple
Facts About Jamaican Local Number Portability”, published Monday July 6,
2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.
The time it takes to port your number is as follows:
1.
5 days after making the request for fixed lines
2.
1 day after making the request for Mobile
3.
10 days after making the request for Mobile for a group
of 100 or more fixed numbers
4.
2 days after making the request for 50 or more numbers
for MSME (Micro Small and Medium Enterprises)
Good to note here you'll lose all of your Voice and Data
Bundles as well as old voicemails; only your number is being ported, not your
entire existence while using that number. Also you can't port after having done
so ninety (90) days prior, as that's simply not allowed. It's porting, not
switch-as-you-like!
Jamaica Number
Portability 2 months on - How to Port your Mobile or Landline number
So now that you know the basic parameters to achieving
Number portability, how does one port from Digicel to LIME, be it landline or
mobile number?
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The Procedure is quite simple as described in the article “Frequently
Asked Questions About Number Portability”, published Monday June 29, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.
The Steps are quite simple:
1.
Go to your Telecom Provider that you wish to switch your
mobile or landline
2.
Ask about Number Portability
3.
Fill out the Porting Request Form given to you by the
Customer Care Agent
4.
Make sure you have GOJ (Government of Jamaica) ID i.e.
Passport, Driver's License, Voter's ID and copy of recent Telephone Bill
5.
Make sure GOJ ID and your Telephone bill for yourself
or your business name and address match
6.
Text the word PORT to 444PORT(7678) for mobile numbers
which is free of charge
7.
If the number on your Porting Request Form was a
landline, you'll receive an email or SMS with a PIN (Personal Identification
Number)
8.
On receiving the email or SMS, call the special porting
number, 444PORT(7678) from the mobile or landline number you are porting
9.
Submit the PIN (Personal Identification Number) to the
AVR (Automated Voice Response) system
10. You
will receive an email or SMS alerting you that your request is being processed
Good to note that in the case of Landline porting, the call
must be made from your landline number. Also, Technicians contracted by the
company you are porting from (LIME) will have to visit your premises to change
your Landline instrument within the timeline as specified above.
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Telecom Providers have been claiming that people have been
switching like crazy, seeking to outdo the other in terms of numbers as reported
in the article “200
customers switch networks with number portability”, published
Wednesday, June 24, 2015, The Jamaica Observer.
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But as my now deceased girlfriend Audia Granston used to
say, people will switch and then they'll switch right back. So are you ready to
port your number? Leave a comment below if you did and tell me how it went!
Here’s the link:
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