Mobile users struggle to hold on to their numbers

OFTEL says customers will just have to learn to live with it...

Mobile users are still struggling to keep their numbers when they change networks, according to a survey from OFTEL. While 13 per cent of mobile phone users have changed their provider in the last twelve months, only a tenth of the churn has kept their mobile phone number. OFTEL sees so-called "porting" of mobile phone numbers as a key part of keeping the UK mobile market liquid and competitive. However, mobile networks see reducing customer "churn" as a vital part of keeping their businesses profitable. Ninety per cent of respondents to OFTEL's survey would have preferred the convenience of keeping the old number, but a range of factors stopped them from doing so - mainly wrong advice from sales staff claiming that it was not possible to switch numbers. Vodafone scored the highest customer satisfaction figures in the survey, with 98 per cent of users claiming that they were satisfied with their service. mmo2 (formerly known as BT Cellnet) scored 94 per cent and Orange came third with 93 per cent. One2One, the network fondly referred to by users as One2None, came in fourth with 89 per cent.