Wireless application service providers (WASPs) are worried mobile number portability (MNP) could destroy consumer confidence in the premium-rated SMS market as acceptance messages will not be returned, says Piet Streicher, MD of Bulksms.com.
However, Greg Brophy, CEO of premium-rated SMS provider iTouch Africa, feels the issue is one of communicating with consumers about the pros and cons of number portability. The network operators have made all the "right decisions in favour of the consumer", he adds.
It is unknown how many people who use premium-rated SMS services will port their numbers, but Streicher estimates that 10 million SMSes are sent a month. These messages are split between alerts from the WASPs to acceptance messages from the consumers.
Loss of revenue
"What we have been told by network operators is that, while an outgoing message from a WASP to a ported number will be transmitted free of charge for at least the first six months, a return message from the subscriber will not reach the WASP," says Streicher, who is on the Wireless Application Service Providers Association technical committee.
Streicher says this could mean a loss of revenue for the network operators and WASPs, and consumers would begin to lose confidence in the premium-rated SMS services.
He believes there are two possible solutions. The first is that WASPs have direct access to the ported number database and then send messages directly to the new network using a long code (full number) for that network. The second solution is to allow short code (shortened version of a full number), using a mobile terminated message.
"The first prize would be to have access to the database," Streicher says.
Clear rules
However, Brophy says the network operators have instituted clear rules around number portability.
"They have stated that a subscriber whose number is ported must subscribe again to the service. This may be an inconvenience, but it is in the consumer's interest that it is done."
Brophy says despite all the hype surrounding number portability, not enough has been done to educate consumers about the pros and cons of switching from one network to another.
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