Mobile number portability (MNP) has been launched on a pan-India basis by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh on January 20, 2011.
“I think its a great step forward for the consumer, as it enhances choice and brings in more competition, because the more efficient you are as a service provider, the more likely that consumers will choose you,” noted Minister for Communications, Kapil Sibal.
MNP allows users to switch operators without having to change their existing phone numbers. The concept of MNP was first mooted in 2005 to promote fair and effective competition in India?s growing telecom industry.
MNP was initially scheduled to be implemented from December 31, 2009 in the metros and category-A circles, while the rest of the country was slated to have this platform by April 1, 2010.
However, the implementation of MNP kept getting delayed. In November 2009, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), in an effort to expedite the implementation of MNP, fixed the ceiling of porting charges (paid by the subscriber to the operator) at Rs 19, the lowest in the world.
In December 2010, MNP was launched in Rohtak, Haryana. Over 100,000 users reportedly decided to swap operators on a customer base of 19 million.
For the user, number portability is available on both postpaid and prepaid schemes and to subscribers of GSM and CDMA telecom services. The only limitation is that the user can retain the number after changing the telecom operator only within the same telecom circle. In other words, a subscriber with Delhi number cannot change the operator and retain the same number in another service area like say, Mumbai.
TRAI has fixed the maximum porting time to seven working days, except in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and North East service areas, where it may take about 15 working days.
A subscriber however, once having changed the telecom operator will have to remain with the new operator for at least three months before applying for another change.
New Player, Sistema Shyam Teleservices limited (SSTL), which operates its telecom services under the brand MTS, taking the opportunity of the much awaited nation wide launch of MNP introduced a range of innovative offerings to lure GSM and CDMA customers on to the MTS network. According to Vsevolod Rozanov, president & CEO, SSTL, ?We are confident that all these migrating pre-paid and post paid customers, will find all our offers extremely appealing”.
Other operators like Idea Cellular, Vodafone Essar, Uninor are also upbeat about MNP. Following a positive response in Haryana, early January 2011, Vodafone Essar decided to introduce an advertising campaign bringing back the famous pug for the ‘Everybody?s Welcome’ campaign around MNP.
Earlier, Idea Cellular very aggressively launched advertising campaigns highlighting its readiness for MNP. The company has also recently, set up a toll-free line to assist customers looking to switch operators.
More operators are expected to undertake similar activities to retain their subscribers as competition is likely to heat up following the roll-out of MNP services.
