MNP requests exceed 60,000

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the United Arab Emirates has revealed that Etisalat and Du have together received 61,000 requests from subscribers to switch provider since mobile number portability (MNP) was introduced in December. ‘So far the MNP has been good. It is a new start and it will take time to gain momentum,’ the TRA’s director general Mohammad Nasser Al Ganem, told Gulf News, adding: ‘This has generated good attraction by operators and consumers. The operators are trying to retain their customers by good offers and customers have a choice.’ According to Al Ganem, out of the total requests more than 23,000 mobile subscribers have transferred their number to a rival network, while many requests were resubmitted in order to obtain the required documents for the switchover.