Following a hectic first couple of months, a survey released last week of wireless retailers found that local number portability problems have diminished since the beginning of the year, while the number of porting requests has remained constant or increased slightly since Jan. 1.
The Management Network Group Inc. survey of both direct and indirect retailers noted the number of porting requests experiencing one or more problems dropped from 43 percent during the first two weeks following LNP implementation on Nov. 24, to 15 percent of porting requests over the past two months. Nearly three-fourths of retailers surveyed also said they believed that overall porting requests have increased or stayed the same since the beginning of the year.
“The results were not a surprise since most retailers had reasonable expectations of the number of people interested in porting their number from talking to consumers on a daily basis leading up to Nov. 24,” explained Jeff Maszal, who headed TMNG’s research.
TMNG noted that while the survey indicated wireless carriers have made progress in fixing porting issues that at one point generated an inquiry from the Federal Communications Commission, challenges still remain ahead of the scheduled nationwide availability of LNP on May 24.
“It’s clear from our retailer survey that wireless carriers are making substantial strides in making the porting process work for subscribers,” said Rich Nespola, chief executive officer of TMNG. “However, with some retailers reporting that LNP volumes are on the increase since [Jan. 1], and with the opening of all U.S. markets to LNP on May 24, carriers need to continue improving the porting process by conducting proper testing to handle the anticipated volumes as well as preparing sales and customer-care representatives.”
Maszal said that while the results from the survey appeared positive for the industry, there were still glitches in the porting process as evident by continued delays in porting between wireline and wireless operators. Maszal added that many retailers helped buffer the negative impact of LNP problems by telling customers to hold off on porting until kinks in the system were ironed out.
Retailers also backed carrier claims that they were prepared for LNP with 94 percent of those surveyed claiming they had received an average of three hours of training in preparation for the mandate, though only 46 percent of the retailers said they received an upgrade to their order management systems. Of those retailers that received upgraded management systems, nearly all said they were at least somewhat satisfied with the software upgrades.
Concerning porting issues, nearly half of the retailers surveyed put the blame on the old carrier, with only 12 percent claiming the new operator was holding up the process. LNP clearinghouse provider Syniverse, which recently changed its name from TSI, noted changes to customer information requirements between porting carriers have helped clear up most of the initial delays and smoothed the entire process.
TMNG’s survey also downplayed some initial industry analyst predictions of millions of potential number porting requests overwhelming retail associates. Retailers surveyed said store associates were handling an average of 2.7 port requests per day and only one-fourth of associates handling five or more requests per day since Nov. 24. Retail outlets did report that 60 percent of customers porting their number were changing carriers solely because they could keep their number, while the other 40 percent were going to switch carriers regardless of the impact on their number.
