8-9 digit numbering switch was successful despite hitches -ART

According to officials of the ART, the transition to 9 digits was a success in Cameroon. These officials also revealed that applications to facilitate the update of directories are available on smartphone. As expected, telephone numbering in Cameroon has increased from 8 to 9 digits Friday.

According to the regulator, the Agency of regulation of telecommunications (ART), the operation was a success. Mr. Bode Garga, technical director of ART, noted: "the '9-digit' is working properly for Camtel, MTN, Orange and Nexttel. We have tested inter-operator life-size last Friday. Due to these tests, it appears that the failover was progressive depending on the heaviness of the operator’s database," said the technical director. However, " thus some encountered some problems on Saturday.

Some connections were not made with partner country operators, due to the time difference", he added. Today, Mr. Bouba Garga confirmed that all services are working even as "there are small problems with fluctuation. The network will stabilise by Tuesday or Wednesday. "In addition, we met difficulties with the transfer of credit to Orange for example, with sms from MTN to Orange", completed the Technical Director.

For this purpose, Orange also sent its operators the message stating that the passage was performed successfully and that adjustments are underway for some services. Samuel Ngondi, Director of communication of Orange Cameroon noted: " a message has been sent Saturday to inform and reassure customers.

Orange offers the application from "8 to 9" free update of the mobile directories and stationary for all operators in Cameroon (Orange, MTN, Camtel, Nexttel). The application is compatible with Android and blackberry and downloadable on the website and the operator as well as Google Play Store facebook page. MTN for its part, established the "MTN Contact Update" application available on MTN Play.

Massey Bongang, Corporate communications manager at MTN Cameroon, noted: "the failover went smoothly and within the deadlines. To accompany our customers, we have feet this application to enable them to update their contacts.' And he added: "We have sought to limit the inconvenience."These applications are only available on smartphones, users of other phones will have to rely on manual editing.