"END OF MOBILE SLAVERY!"

"An end to mobile phone drudgery. This is precisely how the mass media and subscribers regard the launch on 1 February this year of the long-awaited services for transferring numbers - MNP.  It is long-awaited not only because customers of mobile phone providers will be able to change their provider for a more accessible and better quality one without harming their personal and business interests, but because the date when this service was to be installed kept on being changed and at times people even lost hope that it would happen at all. It was probably easier for the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) to withstand the mobile phone providers than to launch a satellite into space.

Mobile phone communications are one of the most rapidly developing and profitable telecommunications sectors in Azerbaijan. They are responsible for more that 60 per cent of the incomes received from this sector. According to forecasts, the number of mobile phone subscribers in Azerbaijan will increase by 17.3 per cent before the end of 2017, and the extent of mobile phone coverage in the republic will expand from 110.1 per cent to 129.2 per cent.

In circumstances where the providers' market is already full, it is increasingly difficult to drive up profits, while there is an ever more exacting  demand for higher profits. Making progress in mobile phone communications means a constant broadening of the spectrum and accordingly an improvement in the quality of the services offered. Subscribers mainly change their provider in order to take advantage of better offers. 

Before 2007 the mobile phone communications market was controlled by two providers - the companies Bakcell and Azercell. The appearance of a new player on the market, Azerfon  (trade name Narmobile) has resulted in considerable changes and stepped up "the battle for subscribers".

The time has come now for another stage - number transfer services (MNP - MobileNumberPortability), the installation of which is mainly aimed at creating a new wave of competition, in particular in boosting quality and accessibility to the services offered by the providers. The transfer of a number means the complete switching of the subscriber's number together with the prefix allocated to the provider (050, 051, 055, 070 and 077). The project initiated by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology may have a substantial influence on the future distribution of forces on the mobile phone network market in Azerbaijan. Moreover, the local mobile phone communications market is already sufficiently full up and is in the stage of development so it would seem to be a good time to introduce MNP. It is precisely this service that should force providers to make extra efforts to hold onto their current subscribers and to attract new ones. 

MNP is essentially one of the components of providers' billing systems, and, in order to use it, they need to install additional devices that are then integrated with one another. The drawing up and adoption of legislative measures, without which the introduction of this service may be regarded solely as a possible idea, are no less important. 

It should be noted that the application of MNP services to Azerbaijan's mobile networks has been under consideration since 2008. But approximately a year ago a working group was set up to deal with its installation; the members of this group were representatives of land-line and mobile communications providers operating on the telecommunications market in Azerbaijan. But, although the regulator set dates for the beginning of the MNP operation several times, "the important date" kept on being postponed each time.

Right from the beginning the providers themselves differed in their opinions of whether the market was read to take on this new service. Thus, companies that already commanded a large share of the market were not interested in it, since for many subscribers for whom it was important to retain their own number, MNP might be a reason for changing provider, if the offers of rivals were more attractive. In short, this moment was a "stumbling block" in the talks on MNP and delayed its installation.

Moreover, practice throughout the world, shows that there isn't a mass exodus of subscribers after MNP is introduced and on average only 20 per cent of subscribers use it. This is naturally a small number, but, if it is taken into account that these subscribers will switch to any one provider, then this will be sufficient to destabilise the market.

When MNP is introduced, mobile phone communications providers will battle for customers exclusively using market initiatives, which ought to make the market more competitive. In practice this might mean free calls within the country at certain times of the day or offering more advantageous conditions with regard to audio and internet traffic. 

The technical aspects are an important issue in using this type of service, since the convenience of the service for the final customer depends on these. This is about the process of being able to switch providers in a short space of time, which correspondingly would depend on an accord among the providers and on the regulations set for the market. The MNP service is popular in places in the world where there is the least transfer of numbers. 

In it common practice in the world for some providers to compensate subscribers for the cost of the number transfer, when they switch to their network. This may be done by offering additional call time. In some countries a fixed rate is set for using a given service, whereas in some it is completely free of charge. It is also known that in other countries customers are actively changing mobile phone providers solely in the initial period after MNP has been introduced; with time companies put more effort into holding onto their existing customers.

Thus, a new spiral of competition for subscribers is unavoidable, and the hardest campaign is expected in the corporative sector. However, the figures for the providers' profits remain high, so in this connection they should have enough drive and reserves to wage a new battle for subscribers.

NOTE

The MNP service was first launched on the telecommunications market in South-East Asia in 1997. This example was followed by Holland, Great Britain and other countries. From  2003 the legislation of each state that joined the European Union was obliged to support MNP too. In 2008 providers in Pakistan, Egypt and Mexico also installed the MNP service.

HOW IT WORKS

Subscribers of other providers can apply to the customer services offices, presenting their Sim-card and proof of identity. Sim-cards have to be changed when a subscriber switches to another provider. There is no charge for changing Sim-cards at the Bakcell, Azercell and Azerfon centres. It takes six days to switch from one network to another. On the last day before the switch the number will be switched off for three hours, after which the Sim-card that the subscriber had earlier, will be completely de-activated and the new card activated. 

Subscribers can withdraw from the service in the first four days. The number can continue to be used on providers' networks for a minimum of three months without charge. At the same time, one of the important features of it is that the balance on the Sim-card, which the subscriber intends to transfer to the network of another provider, will be annulled. 

The service cannot be accessed with the Sim-cards used in Data-cards. According to the rules the service can be used a second time after three months.