Phone numbers to be truly "portable" by end-2007
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/222727/1/.html====================================
-consumers can have just one number when they switch between mobile service providers-
This means greater convenience for consumers, especially since they find themselves changing phone plans and service providers whenever they find that they get better value for their money.
That means you keep the same SIM card, the same phone number and all that. there is no more need for inconveniences where you have to notify people that you have changed your number or a service where the caller calling the old number will get their call forwarded to the new number.
I think that this is great for us consumers who can now swap mobile providers as and when we want, but it spells more challenges for the mobile service providers.
now that it will be easier to swap service providers, the job of holding onto customers will become an increasingly difficult one as they become more slippery. they will just change to whichever service provider can give them the best value for money depending on their needs. it means increased competition between Singapore's three telcos in terms of offering the best they possibly can.
also, it is estimated that they will each have to spend $10m to $20m to upgrade their networks with a neutral, central database that will make it easier to port numbers. So not only do the telcos have to work extra hard to keep their customers and attract new ones, they also have to shell out more money to upgrade themselves.
however, i think that paying the etra money will certainly be worth it, because it means that they can provide better services for customers, and with globalisation turning this world into an "instant" world where everything happens very quickly, the move to improve convenience of services is a good one. We won't have to go through all the trouble to change our phone numbers anymore. -- DE
posted by silvanix @ 8:41 AM
3 Comments:
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There is truly an advantage with people being able to keep their handphone numbers.
In today's interconnected world, there is a great need for people to keep in touch. With a fixed handphone number, there will be no need for people to constantly update friends on new numbers or to remember new numbers.
This will ensure that old friends that need to be contactable will be contactable due to the fixed phone numbers.
Hence, I see this as a great change that will benefit the world in many different areas, as we move into the future.
Change is good, because it is the only constant.
Ryan
This sounds good. This would be very convenient for those who prefer to keep their old number as most of their contacts remember it to be. However, this might be a loss to some phone services. This might result in an imbalanced number of numbers in a phone server which is more popular or wanted.
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