It’s a new week and another lifecell initiative for MNP subscribers — a new service that allows you to use two numbers on one SIM for the price of one (single plan). The service is called uncomplicatedly «Phone number» and is already available to everyone.
Two numbers on one SIM. How the new lifecell service works
First of all, you should take into account that the «Primary Number» service is paid. Only the first 84 days are provided free of charge (as part of the first paid service package), and then its cost is — 25 UAH / 4 weeks. According to the terms of the service, you can transfer a number from another mobile operator to lifecell online to any active lifecell SIM card (the one that was activated earlier and is still in use) to use both on one SIM card at a single tariff.
After transferring to lifecell network, the number of another mobile operator is set as the main number, and the current lifecell number, which was previously on the subscriber’s SIM card, is «pinned» as an additional number. In the future, to send SMS and make calls from the assigned number, you need to add a special code 878 at the beginning of the other party’s number. This is probably the only inconvenience.
You can deactivate the service «Primary Number» at any time by dialing the USSD code *727# — after deactivation, the primary number will become unavailable, as well as the service itself. For more information about the service, please visit lifecell website at the link.
It should be added that lifecell is quite active in luring Kyivstar and Vodafone Ukraine subscribers, and has been very successful in doing so (not least due to special offers and regular discounts). Thus, the operator, which is still owned by Turkcell, firmly holds the lead in terms of the number of numbers transferred to its network — already five years in a row since the launch of the MNP service. Meanwhile sale of lifecell to the French NJJ Capital for $525 million under a big question — all because of ties to the sanctioned russian Mikhail Fridman and his partners (Friedman and Andrey Kosogov of Russia’s «Alfa Group» indirectly own 19.8% of the Turkish telecom giant). The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) is in no hurry to consider the second application (the first one was rejected in early January due to non-compliance of the documents with the requirements) — most likely, the deal will not get the green light without nationalization of the Russians’ stake in lifecell. This is a rather complicated and slow procedure that takes place through the Ministry of Justice and the HACC, for example — the process of confiscation of the Rothenberg brothers’ stake in the Ocean Plaza shopping center in Kyiv, which took almost a year.