Pinoys lukewarm to number porting with only 5,000 requests in 3 months

Mobile users have yet to warm up to the mandated mobile number switching service of the country’s three major telco players.

The joint venture, known as Telecommunications Connectivity Inc. (TCI), said on Thursday around 5,000 subscribers had availed of a mobile number portability (MNP) service since the official launch on Sept. 30.

The figure was a tiny fraction of the roughly 100 million mobile users in the country. It was also far below previous expectations of TCI general manager Melanie Manuel that the company would handle about 1 million porting requests after its launch.

TCI is controlled by Smart Communications, Globe Telecom and Dito Telecommunity, which invested a combined P120 million in the venture.

This was to comply with the requirements of Republic Act No. 11202, or the Mobile Number Portability Act, that was signed into law on Feb. 8, 2019.

Educate the public

In the statement, Manuel indicated the small figure was due to lack of consumer awareness.

Looking ahead, their goal now is to educate the public about MNP, according to Manuel. “TCI currently has an active Facebook page where it regularly posts how-to campaigns to guide mobile customers in their porting journey, if they wish to do so,” the statement showed.

Manuel said the company was also gathering customer feedback “so that we can use this information to improve our processes and services.”