MNP leads to 25% fall in tariffs

Tariffs for wireless services have decreased by around 25% since the introduction of mobile number portability (MNP) in January last year, Chile’s transport and communications minister, Pedro Pablo Errazuriz was quoted by local new portal Soy Chile as saying. TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database notes that by end-December 2012, 749,427 users had ported their numbers to alternative providers, with Claro emerging as the main benefactor of the system, with a net gain of 123,669 customers, compared to net losses of 105,659 and 51,800 for Movistar and Entel respectively. Undersecretary of Telecommunications Jorge Atton added that the implementation of MNP was ‘the tip of the iceberg of the telecommunications reforms that started in 2010,’ which have already eliminated barriers to the entry of new players and are now leading to lower prices and higher quality of services.