TORONTO – British billionaire Sir Richard Branson said Friday the Prime Minister needs to get involved in the wireless number portability debate and force the three largest providers to speed up the process.
During a teleconference Friday, Virgin Mobile Canada owner Branson announced he is “on a personal mission” to ensure that Canada’s 15 million mobile phone users can take their mobile numbers with them if they switch carriers sooner than the planned date of 2007.
On Monday, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association released a plan that won’t see number portability available in Canada until late 2007. Branson says it can be done in six months.
Branson pointed out that WNP is available in just about every other major market in the world and that it shouldn’t take Canada another 24 months to get it done.
From a customer point of view, of course, the inability to take a number to another provider is a key reason customers will stick with their current cell phone company.
Therefore the lack of WNP limits the growth potential for Branson’s Virgin Mobile Canada.
"I’m here today to tell you that Virgin Mobile isn’t prepared to accept the CWTA announcement on number portability – the 2007 timeframe is too slow and completely unacceptable,” he said. “This is an important issue that affects some 15 million mobile customers in Canada. They’ve been asking and waiting for number portability for years and it’s time the mobile industry delivered."
Branson then said that he will be sending a letter to Prime Minister Paul Martin to urge federal government action on the issue.
"Today, Canadians are tied into expensive contracts and don’t have the right to choose without losing their number. Number portability will bring competition to the industry. Is the only downside to doing this earlier that carriers will have to fight to keep their customers? Canadians want number portability now and shouldn’t have to wait until 2007."
Virgin Mobile is collecting support emails from mobile users at mynumberismobile@virginmobile.ca.
When asked for comment, the CWTA said in an e-mailed statement:
“A hyper-competitive marketplace has always been the hallmark of the wireless industry’s success in Canada. All CWTA members, Virgin Mobile Canada included, are free to express their own opinions on any industry-led initiative. However, the CWTA, as part of its mandate, does not comment directly on the competitive marketing practices of its individual members.
“The Canadian wireless industry’s plan for implementing wireless number portability (WNP) was developed as per the definition of WNP set forth by Industry Canada, which includes complete wireless-to-wireless, wireline-to-wireless and wireless-to-wireline portability. The aggressive 24-month implementation plan, developed by independent consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers, will be the fastest implementation of its kind completed by any other country in the world.
From the time WNP was mandated in the U.S. until it was launched in most urban areas of the country, the implementation process lasted close to eight years. Additionally, there continue to be technical and procedural problems with WNP in the U.S. two years later, illustrating the complexity of the undertaking. Japan, arguably one of the most wirelessly advanced countries in the world, will be introducing WNP in the same timeframe as Canada, however the Japanese process will only offer wireless-to-wireless portability.
“Canada’s implementation plan for introducing full intermodal portability is a principle-based plan developed through solid research carried out by respected experts in the field. And above all, the plan will provide an equitable, smooth and consistent roll-out of this new service to Canadians on a national basis. CWTA encourages all interested parties to read the WNP implementation plan, publicly available in the "For Consumers" section on the CWTA web site (www.cwta.ca), to gain a better understanding of the magnitude of the complexities to resolve before wireless number portability can be made available.”
– Greg O’Brien
