The dominance of prepaid mobile usage in Thailand will limit the impact of new mobile number portability rules, says the head of the clearinghouse providing MNP services.
The MNP system – which was soft-launched on December 5 – can handle up to 500 numbers per day at 25 service locations in Bangkok, and each of Thailand’s mobile operators have limited MNP applications to 100 per day in five locations.
However, just 2,400 customers have applied to change networks under the MNP scheme in the first ten days of operation, clearing house chief Premon Pinskul told the Bangkok Post.
"Demand in the first ten days indicates that keeping numbers is no longer the top priority as most local customers already have two SIM cards of different network operators to obtain benefits from tariff promotions," said Premon.
Premon, who is also the deputy chief financial officer of DTAC, said MNP impact on the mobile market would be limited due to the dominance of prepaid – which accounts for over 90% of Thailand’s 69 million mobile subscribers – and the high churn rate, the Post said.
Over 50% of the 2,400 MNP requests were from postpaid subscribers, the report said.