GNP delays cause concern

Johannesburg, 20 Jul 2009

Delays in geographic number portability (GNP) could hamper growth for the smaller telecoms providers hoping to provide voice to customers.

In May, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) announced the phased implementation of fixed-line porting, starting with enterprise blocks of between 1 000 and 10 000 numbers.

However, smaller operators will have to wait for the implementation of smaller number blocks and many say the pilot between Neotel and Telkom will cover a very small number of clients. The regulator says it will release the consumer and smaller business blocks by March next year.

Meanwhile, smaller operators are getting antsy. They are concerned that products that could be brought to market are being held back, because there is no way to gain the customer base in the voice segment just yet.

Niche market

“A number of potential clients are looking for alternatives and the only way to get them on board is to be able to port them,” says Gregory Massel, MD of independent telecom service provider, Switch Telecom.

He says the current blocks on the porting list will have little to no impact on the market, because there are very few clients that have the large blocks of numbers that they will want to move. “Not having GNP for smaller blocks is an obstacle to competition.”

However, he says it is unlikely the regulator will produce regulations governing the new GNP blocks this year. “There is the whole procedure of public comment when they release the draft regulations and then they will probably publish a second draft.”

He adds that the regulator needs to revise the numbering plans before it even starts on the actual draft regulations for porting.

Vox Telecom executive chairman Tony van Marken told ITWeb in an earlier interview that local number portability would aid Vox in expanding its voice business and he also noted that carrier pre-select has stalled.

Target markets

iBurst also has a lot riding on the number portability process to grow its SME customer base. The jury is still out on what the company will do if number portability issues are not finalised by March next year.

Over the past year, iBurst has been building up its SME product portfolio and has slashed prices of its WiMax solutions to attract smaller businesses. However, while it has signed 300 SME clients to its new solutions, number portability is still a problem for the company to grow this new revenue stream.

Michelle McCann, iBurst Business head of product development, says: “Number portability options for smaller businesses and consumers are still being addressed by ICASA. We are told that the regulation would be finalised by February next year.”

However, she seems sceptical that the regulatory issues, as well as infrastructure developments by the company expected to manage GNP, will be completed by then.

Lost market

Frost & Sullivan senior ICT industry analyst Lindsey Mc Donald says the delay in GNP is a blow, specifically for the VOIP providers looking to enter the market. “One major impact has been a slow down in product development in the space.”

She says companies that would have been innovating in VOIP products can't, because gaining a customer base is becoming more difficult. According to Mc Donald, high costs of voice offerings could be stymied by the addition of GNP.

ICASA says the Number Portability Company (NPC) will be responsible for the porting process; however, the company was not available this morning to confirm its involvement.

Massel does not believe the NPC will be involved, since the company was a joint initiative between the mobile operators. He says the mobile businesses have not been involved in the GNP process at all and, lacking a legislative framework, could not venture a guess as to a possible porting partner.