Some 39 percent of mobile subscribers in the country have more than one number, according to a recent Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) study, which attributed the trend to promotions and competitive prices offered by telecom companies, coverage-related issues and quality of service.
Several cell phone users who have two or three mobile numbers from different networks on Saturday said it was not a luxury, but a means of saving money. Many mobile users cited the "price war" among Zain, Orange and Umniah as the main reason that motivates them to own more than one mobile number. "I am subscribed to Orange and Zain. They have very competitive offers. I use my Zain number for calling relatives and friends, but as many of my clients have Orange numbers it is cheaper to call them from my Orange line," Hekmat Hammoudeh, a construction material factory owner, told The Jordan Times on Saturday.
"Nowadays, it is very important to be in touch with clients, employees and even relatives and friends all the time. The price of a mobile number is very cheap. Some offers enable users to make up to 3,000 minutes of calls per month for only JD5. Making calls is not expensive like a few years ago," he pointed out. According to the study, posted on the TRC website, 17 percent of those who have more than one mobile number said they were encouraged by competitive prices and offers by telecom companies; 13.4 percent indicated that their relatives are subscribed to different networks; 4 percent cited coverage issues, while 2.5 percent said it is because of the quality of the service on certain telecom operators. Dalal Qaddura, a housewife, said she has two mobile numbers as the coverage in her area is not "very good". "I have two Umniah numbers as the signal is good.
I used to have a Zain number, but the coverage was not good so I changed it," the Abu Alanda resident explained. The TRC study also revealed that about 61.9 percent of mobile users in Jordan said they were satisfied with the quality of service. By the end of September, there were 7.465 million mobile subscribers in Jordan with mobile penetration hitting 120 percent, according to TRC figures.
