By Emmanuel Elebeke & Koyinsola Adeleye

Organisers of the Nigerian ICT agenda series, have said that the event on Mobile Number Portability, MNP, scheduled for September 26, may become the high point of events in the ICT sector this year.

This, they said, was going by the growing interest of industry players in seeing that the event achieves its aim of educating the subscribers on the gains and pitfalls of the number portability regime in Nigeria.

The event according to them have already attracted the blessing of top telecom operators, MTN Nigeria and Etisalat Nigeria which have already put money down to ensure a successful hosting.

The event which is on the auspices of the two Nigerian top PR outfits, Private Media Mart, PMM ventures and Princelink Communications, is also said to be attracting interest of other notable telecom operators and infrastructure providers who are at one stage or the other of talks with the organizers, to bank- roll the event.

According to the MD of PMM ventures, Mr Ejiofor Agada, who disclosed this to journalist at the weekend “I am extremely happy to see that the level of regards these two telecom giants, MTN and Etisalat have on subscribers is very high.

“Immediately we took the proposals to them, indicating that our major interest is to see that subscribers are carried along to understand bit -by-bit of what number portability means, the companies threw money at it. Their actions have debunked the perception that the operators are here in Nigeria just to make gains out of subscribers” he added.

Agada, reiterated that the forum will highlight so many areas of interest in MNP and invite relevant specialists to advice on how they would be implemented to affect or benefit Nigerian users. “Some of the areas include: What porting standard will be employed in implementing MNP in Nigeria. There are recipient and Donor led- models, each with peculiar effects.

“The one day event will also task implementers on what call routing method the Nigerian operation will take, considering that there are All Call Query and Indirect Routing methods, also with peculiar effects.

Subscribers and stakeholders would also be able to query the implementers on how long it will take to port a mobile number in Nigeria, as well as what ICT infrastructure, products and platforms would be relevant in the MNP” he added.

Agada also said that the event will afford the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, and other stakeholders involved in the implementation, the opportunity to educate the public on the very vast areas of this service.

It will also provide service providers and network backbones that are going to play key roles in the new regime, opportunities to unveil products and also speak on how their services can leverage the MNP system in Nigeria”.

The event Coordinator, Prince Osuagwu, also explained that with the soaring level of interest the event generates by the day, the organizers are ensuring that relevant experts from within and abroad are handy to rip apart the myth of Mobile Number portability which created fears and apparently delayed the implementation in Nigeria.