Porting Costs – TRAI specifies MNP charges
In order to push ahead with the implementation of mobile number portability (MNP), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recently issued the MNP Per Port Transaction Charge and Dipping Charge Regulations, 2009. It has also issued the Telecommunication Tariff (Forty-Ninth Amendment) Order, 2009, specifying the various charges for MNP. It has overall fixed a low ceiling rate for MNP.
Number portability has been eagerly awaited in the country as it allows users to retain their existing mobile number while moving from one access provider to another, irrespective of the mobile technology, in a licensed service area. The government has been keen to introduce MNP as it helps to increase competition among service providers and acts as a catalyst for them to improve their quality of service.
In September this year, TRAI had issued the Telecommunications MNP Regulations, 2009, which detailed the procedure for porting, the rights and obligations of various entities involved and the time limit for implementing MNP. The regulations made provision for three types of charges: per port transaction charge, dipping charge and porting charge.
The per port transaction charge is the charge payable by the receiving operator (to whom the subscriber wants to port his number) to the MNP operator for processing the porting request.
The dipping charge is the charge payable by an access provider or international long distance operator to the MNP service provider.
The porting charge is the charge payable by a user to the recipient operator for porting his mobile number.
According to TRAI and the telecom industry, it is believed that in a competitive telecom market, it would be unlikely that people change their service provider unless they are extremely disappointed with the service. The industry also agreed that with almost all operators offering similar services and tariffs, the incentive to change would be limited, especially at the transfer cost of Rs 250-Rs 400 being considered.
According to Mahesh Uppal, director, ComFirst, “The only way MNP will kick off would be if new telecom operators, in order to lure users to change service operators, decide to bear the cost of transfer themselves.
TRAI has, therefore, recommended that telecom companies bear a large part of the cost of MNP. In its recent tariff order, the regulator has fixed the per port transaction charge and has set the ceiling limit for the porting charge to be paid by a subscriber. The determination of the charges has been through a consultation process followed by an analysis of the stakeholders’ comments and the cost details furnished by the MNP service providers. The charges will become effective from December 31, 2009.
The key points of the regulation are:
According to TRAI, there is no need to compensate service providers for upgradation of their networks to make them MNP compliant and the donor operator for the administrative costs incurred in processing the porting request as MNP does not require the donor operator to carry out any significant work. Likewise, for the recipient operator, acquiring a porting subscriber is similar to acquiring a new subscriber and as such, the recipient operator does not have to incur any additional cost in the MNP process except for the per port transaction charge, which is payable to the MNP service provider for processing the porting request. Moreover, MNP gives the recipient operator an opportunity to acquire more subscribers.
For TRAI, there is every justification to lower the MNP charges as it will make it easier for users to change operators and overall ensure that the quality of service remains high. For TRAI, there is every justification to lower the MNP charges as it will make it easier for users to change operators and overall ensure that the quality of service remains high.
