With a population of just 3.2 million, telephone numbers are easier to recognize, more appreciated, and highly valued. A strong sense of competition, and not to mention elitism, is attached to certain numbers. Once a cellular subscriber has managed to attain his or her desired phone number, he or she is unlikely to change operators, simply for the sake of keeping those digits.

Plans to introduce Mobile Number Portability (MNP) to the market, as early as this year, will allow customers to switch to another cellular phone provider and keep their own numbers, which they’ve possibly had for more than 20 years.

This move will make the sector very interesting to watch: MNP could possibly rearrange market share figures for the three operators, as the companies vie for new customers with even more competitive prices and products.

“MNP…will govern the future market growth and development. Each operator has equal chances in the new scenario,” says Salman Albadran, CEO of VIVA.