By Macharia Kamau

Mobile phone operators Safaricom and Airtel Kenya traded accusations, with each condemning the other for employing underhand tactics to attract and retain customers under the mobile number portability (MNP) service.

Airtel accused its long time rival Safaricom of sabotage, saying it failed to deactivate SIM cards of subscribers who have changed networks, which meant that they could not access certain services, even after porting. The operator said its new customers, who had ported from Safaricom, could not receive cross-network calls, as their previous SIMcards were still active.

Safaricom, on the other hand, accused Airtel of misinforming subscribers, circumventing the porting process, and deliberate delays. The operator noted that the porting request form being used by Airtel was a much shorter version of the standard form, and left out key subscriber and operator details. It also said the Airtel took well over the 48 hours – stipulated as a maximum time frame – to process requests for subscribers moving from Airtel to Safaricom.

But Airtel Managing Director Rene Meza said his competitor has been using anti-competition tactics to block customers seeking to move to its network.

"It is amazing that after completing the 48 hour porting, some operators decline to de-activate the old SIM cards from their network. This means the customer has not completely moved, an act that is gross abuse of dominance by Safaricom," he said in a statement.

He also accused Safaricom of trying to woo back customers who had ported out of their network, which is contrary to CCK regulations.

Safaricom’s Director of Corporate Affairs Nzioka Waita decried Airtel’s behaviour, saying Airtel was withholding information as well as misinforming customers in its bid to build subscriber base.

He also noted that while some teething problems are to be expected, number portability could only succeed in an environment of mutual co-operation among operators.

Waita said due to the limited information given to consumers before porting, some of them had actually placed requests to port back upon learning the implications that porting would have on the service they receive, including loss of services from the initial operator.

Cool off

"Safaricom has received several requests to "cool off" (port back) from customers that have ported or are in the process of porting to Airtel. Majority allege they have not been given any information on porting or its implications by Airtel representatives," said Waita in a statement on Tuesday.

"Subscribers are not being told the implications of porting, including loss of services provided by the previous provider. Those porting out of Safaricom, for instance, should understand they would lose all Safaricom services like M-Pesa."

He added that Airtel had not been following laid down procedure in regard to the maximum porting period.

"Airtel has failed to comply with the porting window of 2 working days, as agreed by all operators and CCK, with respect to Airtel-to-Safaricom port out requests, resulting in delays of up to five days," he said.

Both firms are calling on CCK to intervene and ensure that all operators adhere to the set MNP regulations. In an interview, CCK Director General Charles Njoroge said he would meet with technical officials from all the operators on Tuesday afternoon to evaluate the technical problems experienced in the 12 days since the start of the service.

Njoroge also expects to meet the chief executives of all operators this morning, in a bid to iron out thorny issue.