India’s telecom regulator TRAI had first recommended mobile number portability (MNP) in March 2006. India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has stated that all mobile operators through a neutral third party will establish a centralized database, the cost of which would be handled by the operators proportionate to their market share in the respective circles. Each customer will be required to approach the recipient operator for porting the number.
According to DoT, the cost of upgrading the mobile networks to allow number portability would be borne by the operators. Also, tariff issues will be decided by TRAI after consultations and considering the cost aspects of different solutions.
We will first introduce number portability in the four metros: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. In the next phase, it will be extended to more parts of the country. The modalities will be announced after due consultations with TRAI, said A Raja, India’s communications minister.
Indian business publication Economic Times claims that the CDMA-based operators have said that the introduction of MNP was an important tool for ensuring competition and improved quality of services. However, the GSM players’ representative body cellular operators association of India (COAI) said that MNP was being introduced to benefit a select operator desirous of entering the GSM segment, indicating Reliance Communications, which won a GSM license last month.
The introduction of MNP will result in a significant churn in the telecom market and incumbents and bigger players are likely to be impacted significantly. It is also likely to affect the operating income of mobile operators due to the expected increase in subscriber retention costs.
MNP has already been introduced in countries such as Australia, Korea, Japan, Canada, the US, the UK, most of Europe and Pakistan.
Source: ComputerWire daily updates
