Tigo Ghana said it would absorb the cost of porting for persons who would like to port their numbers from other networks onto Tigo when mobile number portability (MNP) starts in two weeks. When MNP starts on July 1, 2011, mobile phone users who decide to port their numbers from one network to the other would be required to pay at least $2.5 or GHS4 for the porting. Vodafone Ghana was the first to announce it would absorb the cost on behalf of persons porting to Vodafone, but market leader MTN said it is still undecided. In a response to a questionnaire from Adom News, Tigo Ghana said “we will absorb cost for persons who port their numbers onto our network. “We want the process to be affordable for all customers and this is one way of ensuring that it is,” it added. Vodafone also announced it had an automated porting system to ensure porting within 15 minutes, but market leader MTN would not say whether it had an automated or manual system but said it would keep the process within the 24-hour deadline. Tigo Ghana said it had opted for the manual porting process, adding “we have put the right people and processes in place to ensure that we are able to port in customers within the prescribed 24-hour timeframe.” The second leading mobile network operator said it had made substantial investments on the technical side of its business to ensure that those who want to port onto Tigo would have a hassle-free porting experience, adding “in short, we are ready.” In response to concerns that some operators block calls from numbers that had ported out of their network, Tigo Ghana said it had been part of the preparatory process toward MNP launch and was comfortable with the testing period, rules and regulation set, and would not do anything to violate those rules. It said as a responsible player within the industry, Tigo Ghana would abide by the rules as set out by the NCA, because “we are comfortable with the rules that have been set.” But they were quick to state that “we will focus on giving our customers the best experience to ensure that they stay with Tigo.” Tigo Ghana boasted of having been at the forefront of driving innovative solutions such as Tigo Number 1, Smartalk, SmartBrowse and Xtreme Value, which it said had built a value-for-money image for the Tigo brand and demonstrated that Tigo was focused on continually delivering solution-based innovative products and services that would directly meet the needs of customers. It noted that recent innovations such as Tigo Cash, Tigo Insurance and Tigo Ads were further examples of its commitment to solution-based innovation, saying, “we intend to sustain this through constant engagement with customers with the goal of driving innovative solutions, not only in communication, but also in entertainment, information and mobile financial services and solutions.” On the issue of public education on MNP, It said Tigo had been talking about number portability since February 2011 because it believed it was important for all customers to understand what MNP was and how they could port if they chose to do so. “We use various media engagements such as this to educate the public on MNP and will sustain this going forward - we intend to make further investments in educating customers about the porting processes and making them aware of the benefits they stand to gain should they switch to Tigo,” it said. Tigo Ghana assured the public that it was ready to give customers stress-free porting experience from July 1, 2011, saying “our customer service team (front line and backroom) have being well-trained to be able to educate customers as well as to assist them through the process - so we ask Ghanaians who are currently not with us to switch to Tigo now and enjoy our fantastic offers and promotions.” Story by Samuel Nii Narku Dowuona/Adom News/Ghana