One of the direct consequences of number portability are the benefits it provides users. Since the adoption of number portability in Chile last January, the country’s Department of Telecommunications (Subtel) said prices decreased by 20% to 25%. According to Subtel, at the end of the first half of July, a total of 391,882 mobile phone users had switched telecom operators while keeping their numbers.
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“With the advent of number portability, operator strategies are focused on protecting the most profitable part of subscriber bases via rate reductions, an increase in the number of promotional efforts and more facilities that allow clients to gain access to value added services,” Signals Telecom Consulting president, Jose Otero, wrote in his February Analyst Angle column.
Entel and Telefónica’s Movistar lost the greatest number of lines. Movistar lost 160,196 customers and won 103,398, while Entel lost 146,219 and won 121,021. On the other hand, 153,205 customers chose to migrate to América Móvil’s Claro, while 84,856 abandoned the telecom operator. As for Nextel, 2,067 migrated to its services while 389 ended their contracts with the company.
Virgin Mobile, which began operations in Chile last April, gained 6,253 customers and lost only 28. (Check out the full document)
In addition to mobile number portability, the Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, Pedro Pablo Errázuriz, said that the requirements for selling unlocked devices have helped users to change services. As part of number portability deployment, Subtel approved a regulation which allows mobile phone users to ask their existing carriers to unlock their phones for free, and all phones sold after December 2, 2011 must be unlocked.
For Errázuriz, portability deployment marked a profound change in the market, generating more competition among firms, creating a reduction in rates and good deals on plans.
The minister also noted that the entrance of new operators, such as Nextel, Virgin Mobile and VTR, contributed to increased competition. “We will see that within the next few months there will be expanded offerings, benefiting customers,” said Errázuriz in a statement.
