Mobile numbers now portable

It was 11 years in the making - the day when Singaporeans could switch mobile phone operators and keep their old numbers. But it arrived with a thud, rather than a bang, yesterday.

Yesterday's introduction of number portability - as the exercise is called - marks the first time there is full competition among cellphone operators here since 1997, when the monopoly held by SingTel was broken.

Since the date for the start of number portability was announced in April, the three telcos - market leader SingTel, StarHub and MobileOne (M1) - have been dishing out new deals and offers every other week.

Their aims: to avoid high 'churn', or switching, rates among their subscribers, and attract others who are considering moving to a new service provider. It appears they were successful in achieving the former.