On January 12, 2022, the plan for number portability In uruguay. This offers users of mobile telephony the possibility of changing operators keeping their number.
Now, this new mobile telephony tool raises some questions, such as: what are the steps to follow in order to associate with one of the companies in the Uruguayan market (Antel, Movistar o clear), what are the benefits that they present to the user and what have been the results obtained so far by each of them in relation to the performance of this new instrument.
José Carlos López, Marketing Manager of Antel, explained to El País what are the steps to follow when starting the change of plan to be part of the company. First, one must communicate with one of Antel’s channels (service offices, call center or via whatsapp). There you can request the portability of all mobile services -whether they are prepaid or contracts-, but the management must be carried out by the owner of the service or a duly authorized representative.
The process – from the time the porting request is submitted to the change of operator – takes three business days and consists of the following steps: Customer/service identification (by sending a PIN via SMS to the number to be ported) , complete and submit the Porting Request Form (signed by the owner of the service or a previously authorized representative), then it remains to wait for the validation of the request by the company and finally the request is approved, the date of change of operator is coordinated .
It should be noted that the procedure to carry an Antel number does not have any cost for the client. In turn, this company offers the possibility of porting several lines in the same plan. Although there is a procedure for a single service (called Simple Porting), you can also opt for a plan for multiple services, called Multiple Porting. “This allows you to carry between five and 99 services from the same owner, with a maximum of three prepaid services,” López explained.
To start the Movistar porting plan, the user must also make said request (it can be via the web, by phone or directly by going to any local or network of agents around the country). Like Antel, this procedure has no cost for the person and it is also possible to generate multi-line porting.
From Claro, the porting start modality is the same as that of its competitors and it does not have a cost either. Once the request is submitted, the company contacts the user within 24 hours and sends the new customer their chip free of charge. The procedure has a maximum duration of up to three business days, from the moment the request is sent.
However, Verónica Rudolph, General Director of Claro Uruguay, told El País that the company considers that portability has “design limitations” that Claro does not share, such as the fact that portability is prevented -for example- in cases of “debt” that is generated, in many cases, by penalties of leaving the operator from which the client wants to disassociate.
Regarding the benefits that each plan presents to the user, Antel offers a varied offer with various benefits, where each client can adjust their needs based on them. Some of them are, for example: calling and messaging for free with other Antel mobile services, having WhatsApp and Spotify services without consuming mobile data, having the benefits of roaming abroad (data packages per day, data included in contractual plans, Roaming “like at home” in Argentina, Chile y Paraguaywatch the world cup for free on Antel TV and more.
Leticia Lago, director of Public Affairs of Telefónica Movistar Uruguay, told El País that the commercial offers offered by the company also vary according to the needs of the new carrier.
“There are specific offers for the segment of independent professional clients, small and medium-sized companies and also, of course, for the segment of individuals, with plans starting at $280. It is also possible to carry lines with prepaid plans. The best-selling plans are in the range of $590 to $990, since they are offered with special discounts on cell phones,” explained Lago.
In turn, Rudolph assured that Claro offers various prepaid and postpaid service options. In the latter case, there are plans of 12 gigabytes for $250 a month, 24 gigabytes for $340 a month, 40 gigabytes for $390 a month and 80 gigabytes for $760 a month.
According to Lopéz, since January there has been a significant increase in the commercial activity of mobile telephony, and that this has occurred -in large part- thanks to the implementation of number portability.
For his part, Lago affirmed that there was already significant competition in the industry, but what portability did was eliminate “an exit barrier”, which in this case was the loss of the number if one chose to change the operator.
Meanwhile, Rudolph reaffirmed what Lago said, since he also argued that with the arrival of mobile number portability in Uruguay, customers have benefited from lower prices or improved content of the offers as the restricted competition has been opened up a bit. between local mobile phone operators.