Rumors have it that Mobile Number Portability is coming our way here in Nigeria on April 4th, 2013. Breaking: Number Portability Postponed? [Update: Confirmed, New date set]
In a nutshell, Mobile number portability (MNP) enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another.
Source: Wikipedia
More info available at Mobile Number Portability in Nigeria: How Does It Works?
Unlike some Nigerians, I ain’t excited about it all and here are a few reasons why
- All the networks are unreliable: like seriously, whether you like it or not, that’s just the simple fact. One minute MTN is working wonders in terms of call and data and the next, they have you practically pulling and chewing hair. Just imagine waiting 48hrs to port a number and when it finally goes through, your new network begins to stutter terribly. Did I mention that you can only change networks once in 90 days? #O.Y.O
- Your callers get charged more (vice versa): we all know the default prefixes for the major networks in the country thus when calling from an MTN line, you make sure the number you’re calling starts with 0703 so as not to incur off-network charges but what happens when M.N.P is in place and that *ought to be MTN* number is now Glo, Airtel or Etisalat? Hope you get my drift sha. You go burn credit tire.
- 48hrs waiting time: So the NCC says it takes 48 hrs for this whole network change to occur BUT have we considered the dreaded almighty Nigerian Factor? What happens when you’re eager to leave the network and the process is like taking forever and the NCC ain’t in the mood to listen to your *yeye* wailing?
Mobile Number Portability is not the solution biko. Dual SIM phones are and there are a lot of them in the market. Gone are the days when the market was dominated by kplasa chinko handsets. Major brands like Nokia, Samsung, Huawei, LG now offer reliable and budget friendly dual SIM phones and for those that are stuck on hi-end smartphones, Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos costs just N60,000.
In fact, LG has a triple SIM phone by the name LG A290 Tri Chip and it’s already in the Nigerian Market for just N10,200 from the likes of Jumia. (This is not an endorsement of Jumia oh! I prefer you enter Slot Ikeja for peace of mind thingz)
Nursing a dual or triple SIM phone ain’t expensive at all. Simply load N100 airtime to your secondary lines for emergency calls and you’re good to go for times when your primary line is acting up and being a real b*tch. I gave up hope on network reliability in Nigeria a long time ago.
#DazzAll
Feel free to share your opinions with regards to this Mobile Number Portability of a thing coming to Nigeria 
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agree. porting to Airtel network takes 72hrs or more but takes 2-3hrs to port to MTN network. so think twice b4 porting to Airtel network. This is my experience in 2016
Sad as it is and despite being a nation of born-agains Nigeria is one of the most frustrating places in terms of service delivery. Ripping ourselves off is a way of life. Infact the statement “trust no one” was first coined here. Mobile Number Portability thus is already a doomed project from the start.
In the midst of the madness the only way to keep sane is to have them all and play your cards right as situation changes. In other words go get yourself a dual SIM phone. I stick with the Samsung Galaxy S Duos S7562 and the LG Optimus L5 Dual E615. Regards!
Lol @ nation of born-agains who rip themselves off. So true
check this link for specs http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_tri_chip_c333-5089.php
That is what i use with my android phone/tablet through teethering.
The battery capacity is a bit small for three lines oh.
It takes me about three days of average use; calls only
Hmmmm, why do I get the feeling this phone is as sluggish as my ex LG X330? The phone battery dey last but to save contacts for the phone na war.
Not at all. It is way better and smarter than the x330. You may need to see and feel it in your hand.
It took my contacts about 600 of them from my android device and saved it automatically without any user intervention.
The x330, a290 and other nokia phone will require user intervention on each contact to save which is a pain in the butt. Lol
Looking at the specs again, looks like it’s using a MediaTek processor. That could probably explain the speed in handling tasks
I am against your argument. Some people may want to restrict the number of their lines and not want multipe sims.
For exampe, I have been looking forward to the day i will have to drop my mtn sim without losing the number. I have two other sims, glo and airtel and use a triple sim phone but still want to reduce my lines to two.
On the issue of a triple sim phone recommendation, the LG C333 is better than the A290 in everything; better build, softer keys, wifi enabled, qwerty keyboard and a much more organised phonebook.
I mean the phone imports and exports contacts taken from google csv format which is the latest type and is not supported by nokia s40, your LG A290 or samsung chat322, etc.
The LG C333 is simply the best Triple Feature phone out there. It costs around N12,500 in Kogi State and at http://www.jumia.com.ng/C333-33847.html.
I haven’t seen the LG C333 before oh! You say it has Wi-Fi for N12500? Unbelievable. Make I google am small.
Number portability means your Number trouble is doubled
LOL