PROPOSED APPLICATION OF NUMBER PORTABILITY IN ENHANCING QoS AND QoE IN KENYA

Peter Nyongesa & Mwende NjirainiCommunications Commission of

Kenya

ITU-T Workshop on Delivering Good Quality Telecommunication Service

in a Safe Environment in Africa

(Nairobi, Kenya, 26 July – 27 July 2010 )

Numbers: A Critical Resource

Identifiers:End-users Network elementsGeographical locations Services

Traffic routing

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Mobile Subscriptions and Penetration

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Impact of Mobile Growth

Increased demand for numbering resources

Demand on investment: network capacity

Potential negative impact on QoS/QoE

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Efficient Number Utilization

Growth of mobile subscriptions Numbering resource demandNumber block allocation

Regulatory interventions for efficient number allocation:

Charging for numbersNumber portability

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Number Portability Drivers

Consumer demand:Location/service neutralityLimit disruption/expense of number change

Regulatory tool:Efficient utilization of numbering resourcesPromote competition in a multi-operator environmentEnhance consumer freedom of choice

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Number Portability and QoS

PARAMETERS TARGETSCompleted Calls >90%Call Set Up Time <13.5 seconds

Call Drop Rate <2%Call Block Rate <10%Speech Quality MOS for 95% of

samples > 2.7Others

Customer Service Response time

% of complaints resolved with a pre-determined time period Service coverage

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Number Portability and QoS

Customer satisfaction: QoS expectations ≠ Perceived QoSOperation flexibility = Number portability Number portability = Customers flexibility Customer flexibility = Customer satisfaction

Source: Madhani (2006) Review of Quality of Service (QoS) measures in Mobile Telephony sector: Extension from Operation Efficiency to Operation Flexibility.

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Number Portability and QoS

Number portability rewards competitive operators with:

Lower TariffHigher QoS/QoEWider service coverageWider-range of innovative services Consumer-friendly service

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Number Portability: Application in Kenya

1st Public consultation; 2004Responses:

1 fixed operator - no favourable porting operator2 Mobile operators – unnecessary customer churnConsumer concerns – lack of tariff transparency of on-net and off-net

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Number Portability: Application in Kenya

Decision to defer until:The market had at least 3 mobile operators Differential between on-net and off-net tariffs narrowed

Market place changes:4 mobile operatorsUnified Licensing FrameworkNew interconnection framework

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Number Portability: Application in Kenya

• 2nd Consultation; 2008 on Service Provider Number portability (SPNP) International tender: 28th October 2009M/S Porting Access Kenya LtdApplication Service Provider Licence: June 2010Number portability services based on Centralized Reference DatabasePer-port charge <EURO 1.62 (Ksh199.80 VAT Inclusive)

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Number Portability: Application in Kenya

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CRDB

CRDB

RECIPIENT OPERATOR

RECIPIENT OPERATOR

DONOR OPERATOR

DONOR OPERATOR

Authorization request

Authorization Answer

Instruction request

ALL OPERATORS

Instruction response

Broadcast

Challenges

Network externalities:Increase in number of users increase value of network to other users: Dominance?

Fisheries problem:Each user decreases the value of the network participation for all the others- lower Qos

Consumer lock-in Strategies:Value added services

Large pre-paid subscriber base:Low income and low usage Cheap SIM

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Opportunities

Consumer choice

Competition

Better QoS

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Thank you!

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