Now that mobile number portability is on the way, the good news is that you can now kick off the "juju" that has kept you overpaying for your communications. The sad news is that you must abandon M-PESA if you stop being "Niko na Safaricom". In spite of their short comings, nothing in the market today beats M-PESA - it is sticky and you need it. Lugha ya pesa ni M-PESA.
Here are a few guidelines to make it an easy transition:
- Redeem your Bonga points. Get yourself one of those "Mulika Mwizi" gadgets worth 999 - you will need it!
- Get a separate M-PESA number. If you can, get an easy to remember number. Let all your friends know that you have a new M-PESA number - not your current phone. If your Bonga points can redeem a phone, go ahead; redeem one phone for your M-PESA line.
- Do not port immediately - Be patient. In the first few weeks, the operators will roll out enticing campaigns. Evaluate the Vuka tariff, the Shuka tariff, the Ruka tariff and the Rudi tariff. Watch out for the data package, not the voice package - the voice prices will remain low for quite a while. Remember that you do not really need 1 MBPS to check out your Facebook - 32kbs is sufficient. In fact, what you get in practice is much less than that. Do not buy speed, most of it is false marketing - price is where the real value is! The operator that offers Kshs. 500 per month for unlimited internet at speeds equal of greater than 20kbps will win the day, just like Safaricom did with per second billing.
I can accept your reward if you do not want it.
