Speed and Awareness of Network Portability: An Antecedent to Intention to Port among Mobile Phone Users in Southwest Nigeria

The study examined the impact of speed and awareness of portability on intention to port among mobile phone users in southwest Nigeria. The study population comprises of staff and students of public universities in southwest Nigeria, the total population for the study was 313,001 and the sample size of 1522 was arrived at by using the Krecie and Morgan sample size table. The sampling techniques used in the study were both probability and non-probability sampling techniques. The non-probability sample techniques used was the homogenous purposive sampling technique for the selection of two universities (one state university and one federal university) from each state in the Southwest, Nigeria; the probability sample techniques were simple random sampling in order for all the elements of the population to have an equal chance of representation. The study analyzed the data through binary logistic regression. The result of the study indicated that coefficient of speed of porting (β = 0.321, p < 0.05) is positive and significant at 5% level. The results suggested that increase in the rate at which porting can be affected would increase intention to port by about 4%. The coefficient of awareness of porting, which is an indication of level of knowledge of mobile number portability, is also positive and significantly (β = 0.451, p < 0.05) related to consumers intention to port. The study recommends that Government and service providers should take note of the time it will take to port, as it is preferable by subscribers to have less than 48 hours for porting and increase the awareness of portability in order to strengthen the competition and make life better for customers. Corresponding author: Ajayi, Omobola Monsurat Email addresses for the corresponding author: omobola.ajayi@eksu.edu.ng First submission received: 2nd November 2018 Revised submission received: 11th March 2019 Accepted: 9th April 2019 Introduction The importance of mobile phones to the educated and non-educated Nigerians and the business world has made service provision more lucrative, which gave an opportunity for new service providers to come into the market. As important as the service providers are, the most challenging situations they face is how to satisfy their subscribers (Anderson, Fornnell and Mazvanchery 2004). In recent market, the mobile technology has been competitive and service providers are moving aggressively to attract versatile users by offering some attractive promotions and services (Raman, Hague and Ismail, 2010). Following the launch of mobile number portability (MNP) service by the NCC in April 2013, the cumulative total number of ported lines (both incoming and outgoing) as of March. 2016 was 654,188 even in the presence of mobile phones that have space for two SIM cards (NCC, 2016). This development however poses a question on how awareness affects MNP scheme in Nigeria, with over 190 million population and below 700,000 subscribers have ported so far. Partiksinh (2012) & Mihir and Divas (2014) in their studies, they Journal of Business and Retail Management Research (JBRMR), Vol. 13 Issue 4 July 2019 www.jbrmr.com A Journal of the Academy of Business and Retail Management (ABRM) 226 showed that, though there is a very high level of awareness among students on MNP, there is not much response in terms of increasing the intention to switch service providers, the result therefore revealed that the awareness is not significant with intention to switch. Furthermore, Podvysotskiy (2006), who noted that consumers were often discouraged by long duration, it takes to implement portability. Consumers considered two (2) days’ time-to-port as too long. In fact, for some consumers, porting their number within an hour or two is very important, therefore, reducing the time-to-port. One of the key questions around mobile number portability relates to the speed with which numbers are ported. Ofcom (2009a) proposes four options for new mobile number portability (MNP) regimes, two of which include provisions for porting to take place in two hours, and two of which allow for a one-day porting timeframe. Since the introduction of the MNP, several studies have been conducted on the scheme to examine the determinants of MNP, studies such as; Birgul (2013) in Turkey; Dominic, Joseph and Rogers (2014) in Kenya; Carroll, Howard, Peck and Murphy (2002) in Britain; Shin and Kim (2008); David (2012) in Hong Kong; Xiapong and David (2015) in Britain; Kumaresh and Praveena (2010) in India; Daniel, Alfred and Solomon (2013) in Ghana; Kofi and Oscar (2013) in Ghana; Reddi (2014) in India; Simon and Robert (2015) in Ghana and Pirc (2005) in Spain. However, Nigeria subscribers seems to be lacking behind in the adoption of the scheme (MNP), as the relative proportion of the population who has ported so far is low, compare to the large population of the country. Moreover, the time it’s take to port also needs to be checked as subscribers from existing literature prefers short period of porting. The assessment of these two factors will shed light into how they have affected or affect subscribers from moving from one network to the other, which is the aim of this work. Literature Review 2.1.1 Conceptual Clarification The introduction of number portability is one of the most active policy challenges facing the telecommunications industry worldwide (Daniel, Alfred and Solomon, 2014). The ability to retain a telephone number while switching carrier is known as MNP (Oliver, 2009). Mobile Number Portability means that a customer can keep his/her existing mobile telephone number when he/she changes his/her service provider. Theory underpinning the study Switching behavior includes number of models and theories which explain why customers switch firms. In today’s dynamic business environment, marketplace is increasingly being customer-oriented, realizing the importance of keeping customers in a long-term relationship. Though customer retention is crucial, it is equally important to explore and examine the factors that can cause customers to switch service firms. This is simply because, to keep current customers, it is important for firms to understand why customer switches. Conceptually, consumer retention and consumer switching behaviour are two different marketing constructs that have unique theoretical and managerial implications. The subject of Consumer Switching Behaviour (CSB) has gained considerable attention, since the past decade, among scholars and practitioners in the marketing literature, probably, because of its likely impact on the survival, profitability, and growth of the business enterprise (Keaveney, 1995). Morevover, the theory underpining this work is Switching Path Analysis Technique (Model). This model can be used to find out why customers switch their service providers (Roos, 1999). As the name implies, this method focuses on one situation, interaction or encounter that may be noticed by the customers as positive or negative, and therefore it can strengthen or weaken the relationship between customers and the service provider. In the traditional view, the critical incident is held responsible for the customer’s decision to switch the service (Roos, 1999). 2.3 Empirical Review 2.3.1 Speed of Porting and Switching Behaviour Dorninic, Joseph and Rogers (2014). Studied determinants of consumer switching behavior in Kenya, with sample size of 50 through a stratified sampling technique, using logistic regression to analyse Journal of Business and Retail Management Research (JBRMR), Vol. 13 Issue 4 July 2019 www.jbrmr.com A Journal of the Academy of Business and Retail Management (ABRM) 227 the data and the study revealed that only 12% of the respondents were satisfied with the statutory 3-day porting period. These results were like the findings Podvysotskiy (2006), who noted that consumers were often discouraged by long duration it takes to implement portability. Consumers considered two (2) days’ time-to-port as too long. In fact, for some consumers, porting their number within an hour or two is very important, therefore, reducing the time-to-port. One of the key questions around mobile number portability relates to the speed with which numbers are ported. The study of Ofcom (2009) proposes four options for new mobile number portability (MNP) regimes, two of which include provisions for porting to take place in two hours, and two of which allow for a one-day porting timeframe. Both proposed time frame improved on the current requirement for porting to take place within two working days, and both comply with the forthcoming EU requirement for porting within one working day. The benefit to consumers will be greatest if porting takes place within two hours rather than one day. We do not, however, believe that one day is an unacceptably long-time frame for number porting to take place. The online panel research carried out for Consumer Focus asked consumers about the importance of speeding up the transfer process from two days to two hours. 32 percent of consumers responded that this improvement was ‘extremely important’ or ‘very important’ to them. This result highlights that a significant number of consumers wish to see a move to two-hour porting. All information needed to understand this study was simplified; but the study muted on the sampling technique used for the study. 2.3.2 Awareness of Portability and Switching Behavior Partiksinh (2012) carried out a study on customer preference for mobile number portability, in which the paper examined the consumer awareness and preference about mobile number portability and try to find out the factors that motivate the use of the MNP. Result suggested respondents were not only aware about the MNP, but they also know the procedure of using the MNP. The outcome of the study suggests that awareness of portability is significant with switching. Mihir and Divas (2014) studied the impact of mobile number portability