Centracell has announced that it will be ready to successfully manage and administer mobile number portability (MNP) to all its customers by the official launch date of 18 September this year.
Centracell provides a comprehensive suite of solutions for routing voice traffic over all alternative least-cost routing (LCR) network platforms at the most cost-effective rates.
MNP, a new service allowing cellular phone subscribers the ability to change their service provider or their network without changing their mobile phone number, was due to be introduced by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) in July 2006. The target date then moved to 1 September with 18 September now being D-Day.
"Number portability has the potential to have a hugely negative effect on unprepared LCR solution providers, who may pass this on to their customers," says Centracell managing director, Julian Morelis.
"However, we have been working on our solution for over two years and can guarantee that none of our existing customers or future customers will be affected financially," continues Morelis.
Morelis says this has been achieved by making use of both the broad spectrum of global edge technologies, together with TiTAN Online, a Web-based management application used to administer number portability.
LCR systems intelligently analyse differences in the tariffs of the various telephony carriers including Telkom, Vodacom, MTN and Cell C. They take advantage of tariff differences to place any telephone call on the carrier network that provides the lowest cost, taking into account such factors as time of day, call origination and call destination.
Morelis says approximately 60% of businesses in South Africa have implemented LCR from a variety of service providers.
It has been said that the arrival of MNP is setting the stage for a price and customer war between service providers and that this competition will benefit the consumer with better customer service, lower contract costs and call rates as service providers fight to retain their customers.
Co-operation among operators is a keystone of number portability. "This is why ICASA consulted broadly on the development of the framework regulations and promoted the establishment of an industry task group to develop the functional specifications for mobile number portability, which is a key element in implementing number portability," concludes Morelis.
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Centracell is part of the Centratel Group with headquarters in Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Centracell has the most comprehensive suite of solutions to route voice traffic over alternative network platforms at the most cost-effective rate without compromising any fundamental basics such as quality of service, transparency, accountability and the fastest return on investment. These solutions include the ability to provide highly competitive call cost on a per second billing model for all cellular, national long distance, international, SMS, inter-branch VPN solutions as well as Web-based telephone management services. These services are made possible via Centracell`s strategic partnership agreements with all three GSM network operators, local and international fixed line operators as well as premier Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) Virtual Private Network operators for the deliver of voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP).
Centracell`s voice solutions, together with its bleeding edge technology, provide its customers, via one of the largest channels of agents and reseller which range from SOHO to multinational corporate enterprise, a unique ability to take advantage of the commercial flexibility of the current telecommunications industry, while enjoying the peace of mind of being able to evolve into the future of the next generation of telecommunications.
Centratel
The Centratel Group, consisting of five companies, namely Centrafin, Centracell, Centravoice, Centratec and Masakhe, is the largest multi-vendor telecommunications distributor in sub-Saharan Africa. The group is committed to telecommunications hardware and software distribution, the provision of least-cost routing and the specialist financing of ICT products and services.
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