UNIVERSITY of the West Indies Professor Hopeton Dunn reckons that the introduction of Local Number Portability (LNP) will be an imperative for telecommunication providers to consistently offer consumers high quality service.

“It now means that people can switch like the wind and you don’t get stuck with a particular number simply because you have had it for 10 years,” Dunn stated at the Press Club briefing at the Jamaica Observer last week Thursday.

“It is long overdue, we should have had it already and I’m encouraged by the reports I’m getting that it is actively under way and when it does come it will add to the consumer benefits,” he added.

Number portability will allow Jamaicans to choose their service provider while retaining their assigned number across networks. The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) is to select a number portability licensee in another two weeks, to meet its May 31 deadline for implementation of the system.

Last month, State Minister for Technology, Energy and Mining Julian Robinson told the Jamaica Observer that the five bids submitted to the OUR in December have been assessed and evaluated, with a final decision being awaited. Once that provider is selected, they will begin working immediately with the three telecoms companies, to integrate into their systems, according to Robinson.

“If you go by what happens in other countries you can reasonably predict that there would be some levelling of the subscription across providers and then depending on the provider that offers greater value, lower price or better service, then the subscription will gravitate in that direction,” Dunn told the Caribbean Business Report.

“If that is sustained, people will keep that service provider but if the service quality is poor, people will want to switch to the other provider and will be facilitated in doing so because they don’t have to change their number,” he added. “So it will be easier for people to exercise their own choice and selection.”

In a release sent out

earlier this month, telecommunications provider LIME stated that it is ready for the introduction of number portability and has already committed a significant investment to facilitate the necessary infrastructure upgrades.

Digicel’s Barry O’Brien last year revealed that the acquisition of Telstar’s cable and broadband infrastructure also forms a critical part of the company’s plan to aggressively target fixed-line customers once the government approves local number portability.

Meanwhile, lecturer in economics at the University, Dr Abdullahi Abdulkadri, told the Jamaica Observer that the merger of Cable and Wireless and Flow will also be beneficial to consumers.

Research conducted by Abdulkadri on the Cable and Wireless/Flow merger revealed that the merger would increase competition between the communication providers, ultimately reducing prices for consumers.

“It strategically makes sense for either of these companies to keep prices low and once the government is committed to the regulation and the market is open, players from South Africa or Brazil may find it possible to enter the market and it will be an opportunity for consumers to enjoy low prices,” Abdulkadri stated.

He noted that the merger will also result in infrastructure investment to intensify the competition, following an announcement by LIME that Cable and Wireless will be making an investment of $29 billion in the economy.

“What I had anticipated was that it would be Digicel making the first investment. So don’t be surprised if in a few months Digicel will announce that it will make a $50-billion investment in the economy, which is good,” he said.

He added that the university now hopes to conduct research on the effects that the merger will have on the quality of service to consumers.

“The issue which we should be concerned about is the quality of service because the companies know that consumers will respond to price so they will keep prices low, but what you don’t hear people complaining about is the quality of service,” Abdulkadri said.