Strong NP activity to continue in 2013, says Chilean minister

Strong number portability (NP) activity is set to continue in 2013 following the transfer of some 0.78 million mobile numbers in the first 12 months after the introduction of NP at the beginning of 2012, said Pedro Pablo Errázuriz, Chile’s Transport and Telecommunications (MTT) Minister at a press conference.

The activity which has been seen so far in January has been similar to what was seen in the same month of the previous year, according to the minister.
 

Meanwhile, postpaid mobile tariffs have been reduced by some 25 per cent since NP was introduced, with that figure reaching 40 to 50 per cent for prepaid tariffs.

The level of NP activity has surpassed expectations for the first year, and the companies which have lost clients are reacting, and investing to strengthen areas which are making them less competitive, he added.

In line with trends observed in December, Claro and new players in the market have remained the winners in number portability.

Claro has seen net gains of 126,358 as of January 15, followed by Virgin with 17,911, VTR with 9,655 and Nextel with 6,918. Meanwhile, the market leaders both saw net losses, with Entel losing 52,617 net clients and Movistar 109,123 clients. Entel, however, highlighted its leadership in postpaid NP, where 44.7 per cent of clients who ported their number moved to the operator.

In total, 56.1 per cent of mobile numbers ported were prepaid, while the remainder were postpaid, according to Errázuriz. 
(Business News Americas)