Applications for MNP Start 1 September
Vodafone Japan K.K. announced Thursday it would charge its customers 2,100 yen to cancel their contracts when transferring their phone numbers to different service providers. With Vodafone’s announcement, all three major cell phone firms have set their cancellation fees at 2,100 yen. Starting Friday, Softbank will accept applications for number transfers from the other two firms at Vodafone shops, by phone or on its Web site. The mobile number portability system will officially begin on 24 October.
Softbank and KDDI, which markets its products under the name au, will levy a new contract fee of 2,835 yen for customers switching from other services, while NTT DoCoMo will charge 3,150 yen. Customers will therefore have to pay a total of 5,250 yen when changing to DoCoMo, while DoCoMo customers switching to other services will pay 4,935 yen. However, customers applying by 23 October will be given 2,000 yen worth of credit that can be used toward changing phone models or purchasing batteries. KDDI will also begin accepting applications Friday, while DoCoMo will begin on 10 September. Continue>>As the article states: “The phone numbers can be transferred to new service providers, email addresses cannot.” This could well prove to be a ‘somewhat’ limiting factor — Eds.