beMOBILE plots to wrest market share

The ace up beMOBILE’s sleeve will be a renewed push for Mobile Number Portability (MNP), which will allow mobile users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one network carrier to another. MNP is favoured by smaller, upcoming networks, which are challenging for market space, such as Cell C in South Africa, which at one point, said it was raking in 6,000 customers from its rivals every week.

While South African regulators established MNP in 2006, the service is yet to begin in Botswana, where the market remains firmly in the hands of the two main providers, Mascom and Orange.