After a beginning of application of the number portability with gain of clients, the state telephone company Antel recorded its first setback and lost 800 customers in the first half of March. Of course maintained the negative trend while the winner was Movistar with 1,000 new users.
According to data accessed by La Diario and confirmed The Observer with a fountain of the Ursec, Antel lost 800 clients in the first fortnight of March, sure lost 260 and Movistar grew by 1,000 customers. For its part, in the last fortnight of February Antel achieved 200 new clients, Of course reached fifty and Movistar lost about 250.
Since the beginning of number portability, according to La Diario, Antel has some 1,550 new clients compared to Claro’s 130, while Movistar has a negative balance of 1,700 fewer clients.
Number portability is a functionality that allows users to change phone companies without losing their number. In uruguay, It began to be applied on January 12 and is within the 135 articles of the Law of Urgent Consideration (LUC) that seek to repeal – by the Broad Front, PIT-CNT and social organizations – in the referendum on March 27
Since number portability came into effect, Antel began an aggressive and intense advertising campaignwhich included a first spot with various renowned figures (including Luis Suarez, Alvaro Recoba, Antonio Pacheco and Maria Noel Riccetto) and also a notice with Suarez and other players of the Uruguayan team.
The director of Antel for the opposition, Daniel Larrosa, reported that approximately US$ 1 million was allocated for publicity focused solely on portability.
The other two companies Movistar and Claro, also implemented specific marketing strategies, but with less exposure than the Uruguayan public company.
