Cell C has created a porting method that allows mobile subscribers to switch to its network via SMS.
SMS porting enables potential customers to join the Cell C network without having to go via the call centre, or physically walking into a Cell C store, says a company statement. The facility is available to prepaid customers 24/7.
Cell C executive head of corporate communications Shenanda Janse van Rensburg says SMS porting comes nine months after mobile number porting (MNP) was first launched in November.
Customers wishing to port to Cell C are required to purchase a Cell C starter pack at any participating outlet. The subscriber should then send a port request to Cell C via SMS, she says. The customer will immediately receive an SMS notification confirming receipt of the port request.
Janse van Rensburg notes that subscribers receive a second SMS, informing them whether their port request was successful. The SMS also lets them know when porting will take place.
"Only once subscribers receive an SMS notification confirming that their port request has been successful, or approved, can they remove their current SIM card and activate the Cell C starter pack," she adds.
Driving MNP adoption
World Wide Worx and the Communication Users Association of SA (CUASA) say Cell C's SMS porting will hopefully result in more South African consumers porting to a network of their choice.
It is not yet clear how many mobile users in total have ported across all networks since MNP was introduced in November.
However, Janse Van Rensburg says Cell C and its joint venture partner Virgin Mobile SA have gained from the process, with over 40 096 customers porting to the Cell C network since MNP was launched.
The system could serve as a model for how porting can be taken forward, says World Wide Worx strategy director Steven Ambrose.
World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says Cell C's main problem in growing its subscriber base through number portability is that most cellphone subscribers are happy with their network.
"The 5% to 10% who aren't happy tend to suffer from typical consumer inertia, which means that if there is any obstacle whatsoever to porting, they simply won't bother. What we have here is Cell C trying to benefit by giving 5% of subscribers who are dissatisfied an instant out," he explains.
CUASA spokesman Ray Webber says the SMS porting service demonstrates SA's ability to find innovative and dynamic uses for SMS. "SMS is being used in very interesting ways and South African companies appear to be very much at the forefront of this thinking."
Webber points out that the legal requirement to register mobile phone users, as provided for by the Regulation of Interception and Provision of Communications-related Information Act, could hinder Cell C's innovation.
"However, as far as we are aware, these unworkable and impractical requirements are thankfully not yet being enforced," he notes.
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