Senegal’s Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Post (L’Autorite de Regulation des Telecoms et des Postes, ARTP) has reported that a total of 2,870 subscribers have changed their network service provider in the first three months since mobile number portability (MNP) was launched in the country on 1 September 2015. According to the Director General of the ARTP, Abdou Karim Sall, Tigo Senegal – a subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular (MIC) – has been the biggest beneficiary of MNP to date, with a net gain of 702 (with 239 leaving its network), followed by Orange with a gain of 372 (despite losing 813 subscribers), while Expresso Telecom booked a net loss of 361.
As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, at the end of last year the ARTP said it had pushed back plans to launch MNP to 2015, despite previous assurances that it would go live in October 2014. Tests relating to the introduction of the MNP system began on 22 July, ahead of a full-blown launch in September. The transfer of a mobile number to a different operator is free of charge for consumers.