Number portability is not free
Everyone will be charged RD$80 pesos whether or not they change servers
SANTO DOMINGO. In case everyone is not clear on this, the right to have number portability implies a general fee that will be applied to every telephone customer, both mobile and fixed and it does not matter if they make use of the right or not.
This was established in Resolution 080-09 that was emitted in August by the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) and through which the telephone companies are authorized to charge RD$80.00 pesos as a one-time charge to each customer.
This fee was established as a way in which the phone service providers can recover the cost of the investment that they made to install portability for the telephone numbers. In simple mathematics, those RD$80.00 pesos multiplied by the 9,174,388 clients that were listed as of last June as having a phone number, either a land line or mobile, in the Dominican Republic, equal a total of RD$733,951,040.00.
Calculated in dollars, this last number is equivalent to some US$20.3 million, a number that comes close to the US$20.5 million that Indotel estimates as the cost of recovery for the phone companies of the investments they made, and was determined based on a Network Audit of Number Portability, according to the considerations contained in the resolution.
Julisa Cruz, the person in charge of the Number Portability Project for Indotel, justified the charge of all the phone users, with portability, which is to say the right to change phone companies and keep the same phone number,"will be beneficial for everyone".
"We have to look at the benefits of portability for everyone, independent of whether they use the right or not, because the prices will go down as a result of the dynamics of competition, the companies will have to give better service and will do everything possible to keep their clients and attract others, then it cannot be seen as a benefit for those that are going to change phone companies", she said.
In its second article, Resolution 080-09 from Indotel establishes that, "it is allowed that the concessionaires of public telephone services, both fixed and mobile, have a period of no more than 9 months to collect the regulatory quota established in the first numeral". This time limit is counted beginning last 30 September, when the program of number portability went into effect.
Up until now, some 4,000 persons have changed phone companies and there have been 20,000 requests for changes since the program started at the end of last September.
The telephone companies
As a relief for the customers, some of the phone companies decided not to charge their customer the RD$80.00 pesos, and only Tricom and Claro-Codetel are doing so.
In the case of Tricom, the RD$80.00 pesos charge is done in two quotas of RD$40.00 each and is on the monthly bill. According to the explanation given by Alba Flores, the Communications director for Tricom, the company exonerates customers from an additional payment of US$4.50 (about RD$150.00) for administrative fees for transfers, and applies it to persons who opt to leave the company.
"Tricom is no charging that amount, we are assuming it as part of our cost of acquiring new clients that have decided to go with Tricom, whether it is for land lines and/or mobile phones", she said.
Claro-Codetel, for their part, collects the RD$80.00 from all of their land line customers, but for cell phone users they only collect it when they opt to change phone companies, according to Communications director Yenny Abreu.
In the case of Orange Dominicana, the cost of recovering the investment for number portability has not been passed on to the client as yet.
Nevertheless, the company warns that if the current equal conditions in the market are not maintained, they will be obliged to charge their customers for it. Monika Despradel, the Communications manager for Orange, said that even though there are clear regulations for the implementation of number portability, the conditions under which it is evolving are not fair and this is making the process more difficult.
She added that the company is pushing for "these equal conditions" among the phone companies and for this they are looking for the mediation services of Indotel.
Payment methods
For those that decide to change their phone service provider and keep the same phone number, they need to pay the RD$80 fee completely to the phone company during the transfer process. For those who have not requested portability, the charge will appear as "other charges" on their monthly statement, in the case of residential customers and for those with cell phone accounts.
In the case of pre-paid cell phone customers, those that use calling cards, the regulatory quota will be collected in RD$10 peso increments as the phone is recharged, until the RD$80 fee has been collected. Julisa Cruz pointed out that the RD$80.00 fee is the only payment for number portability and it is not subject to taxes. She defends, moreover, the information campaigns that Indotel had promoted as well as those of the phone companies, to announce the new service.
This was established in Resolution 080-09 that was emitted in August by the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) and through which the telephone companies are authorized to charge RD$80.00 pesos as a one-time charge to each customer.
This fee was established as a way in which the phone service providers can recover the cost of the investment that they made to install portability for the telephone numbers. In simple mathematics, those RD$80.00 pesos multiplied by the 9,174,388 clients that were listed as of last June as having a phone number, either a land line or mobile, in the Dominican Republic, equal a total of RD$733,951,040.00.
Calculated in dollars, this last number is equivalent to some US$20.3 million, a number that comes close to the US$20.5 million that Indotel estimates as the cost of recovery for the phone companies of the investments they made, and was determined based on a Network Audit of Number Portability, according to the considerations contained in the resolution.
Julisa Cruz, the person in charge of the Number Portability Project for Indotel, justified the charge of all the phone users, with portability, which is to say the right to change phone companies and keep the same phone number,"will be beneficial for everyone".
"We have to look at the benefits of portability for everyone, independent of whether they use the right or not, because the prices will go down as a result of the dynamics of competition, the companies will have to give better service and will do everything possible to keep their clients and attract others, then it cannot be seen as a benefit for those that are going to change phone companies", she said.
In its second article, Resolution 080-09 from Indotel establishes that, "it is allowed that the concessionaires of public telephone services, both fixed and mobile, have a period of no more than 9 months to collect the regulatory quota established in the first numeral". This time limit is counted beginning last 30 September, when the program of number portability went into effect.
Up until now, some 4,000 persons have changed phone companies and there have been 20,000 requests for changes since the program started at the end of last September.
The telephone companies
As a relief for the customers, some of the phone companies decided not to charge their customer the RD$80.00 pesos, and only Tricom and Claro-Codetel are doing so.
In the case of Tricom, the RD$80.00 pesos charge is done in two quotas of RD$40.00 each and is on the monthly bill. According to the explanation given by Alba Flores, the Communications director for Tricom, the company exonerates customers from an additional payment of US$4.50 (about RD$150.00) for administrative fees for transfers, and applies it to persons who opt to leave the company.
"Tricom is no charging that amount, we are assuming it as part of our cost of acquiring new clients that have decided to go with Tricom, whether it is for land lines and/or mobile phones", she said.
Claro-Codetel, for their part, collects the RD$80.00 from all of their land line customers, but for cell phone users they only collect it when they opt to change phone companies, according to Communications director Yenny Abreu.
In the case of Orange Dominicana, the cost of recovering the investment for number portability has not been passed on to the client as yet.
Nevertheless, the company warns that if the current equal conditions in the market are not maintained, they will be obliged to charge their customers for it. Monika Despradel, the Communications manager for Orange, said that even though there are clear regulations for the implementation of number portability, the conditions under which it is evolving are not fair and this is making the process more difficult.
She added that the company is pushing for "these equal conditions" among the phone companies and for this they are looking for the mediation services of Indotel.
Payment methods
For those that decide to change their phone service provider and keep the same phone number, they need to pay the RD$80 fee completely to the phone company during the transfer process. For those who have not requested portability, the charge will appear as "other charges" on their monthly statement, in the case of residential customers and for those with cell phone accounts.
In the case of pre-paid cell phone customers, those that use calling cards, the regulatory quota will be collected in RD$10 peso increments as the phone is recharged, until the RD$80 fee has been collected. Julisa Cruz pointed out that the RD$80.00 fee is the only payment for number portability and it is not subject to taxes. She defends, moreover, the information campaigns that Indotel had promoted as well as those of the phone companies, to announce the new service.
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