Mobile Number portability in India from

2010
After years of waiting, Mobile Number Portability has arrived in India. The Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a draft of regulations for introduction of
mobile number portability (MNP) in the country. If you are not aware of Mobile Number
Portability, it allows subscribers to retain their existing telephone number when they
switch from one access service provider to another access service provider irrespective of
mobile technology or from one technology to another technology on the same or any
other access service provider.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) announced, on November 20, 2009,
that Mobile Number Portability (MNP) will be introduced in India, on December 31,
2009.TRAI said that subscribers in India will be able to change their service providers
while keeping the same mobile number, at a fee of no more than Rs 19. It doesn’t matter
whether you want switch from GSM to CDMA or vice-versa, or within GSM and CDMA
opetaors; you can still retain the same number. However, initially, you will be able to
switch operators and retain the number only within the same telecom circle. You cannot
retain the same number and change operators if you want to, say, move from Delhi to
Mumbai. Mobile Number portability will be implemented first in Delhi, Mumbai,
Maharashtra & Gujarat Service Areas of Zone-1 and Kolkata, Tamil Nadu (including
Chennai, AP and Karnataka) by Sept 20th 2009 and the rest of the country will follow the
implementation by March 30th 2010.

Mobile Number Portability changeover charges

TRAI also said that service providers will be able to charge any amount less than or equal
to Rs 19.

MNP will be introduced in India, in two phases. It will first be introduced in Indian
metros and Category A telecom zones, on December 31, 2009, and subsequently in the
rest of the country, by March 20, 2010.

How to change mobile operator under MNP

Subscribers must pay up all pending bills before making an application for MNP. The
porting fees are to be paid to the new operator. No payment is required to be given to the
operator you are leaving. TRAI said that porting between mobile operators should be
accomplished within four days. There’s a catch though. You cannot switch operator and
retain number if you have been with that operator for less than three months. Prepaid
users must remember that their balance talk time will disappear if they switch to a
different operator. The maximum downtime between deactivating the existing connection
and starting the new connection will be a maximum of two hours.
As for Dipping charges, the charge will be mutually agreed upon between a service
provider or international long distance provider to the MNP service provider.

Licences were provided to two MNP Service Providers (MNPSPs) for two zones in the
country, earlier in the year.

Dipping charges are charges that a service provider would need to pay to use the query
response systems of the two MNP service providers. Service providers can use the query
response systems to get the Location Routing Number for routing a message to the called
number.

MNP: Five Facts about Mobile Number

Portability in India
1. Technology behind MNP

Admittedly, porting mobile numbers is not as simple as pushing a button. There is a lot
that has to happen behind the scenes to allow for it. Expensive equipment, logistics on a
mind-boggling scale, and ensuring checks-and-balances by appointing a third-party
company to carry out these operations on behalf of both (originating and destination)
operators.

2. Operator Fear

The so-called "incumbent" mobile telephony operators have been in the space for a long
time. The number of dis-satisfied users is inevitably in direct proportion. When new
companies enter the mobile operator space, they have nothing to lose (atleast at first) with
MNP. Those operators who have been around longer, fear losing existing customers, with
good reason. Besides, prized phone number sequences (98484 84848 for example) can be
lost to other operators, instead of returning to an operator's own pool of available
numbers to hand-out.

3. Logistics, Verifying User Identity

Changing your telephone/mobile/internet provider has always been a "moving"

experience. Ask LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) customers in UK and New Zealand
about the horrors! Would you have to apply at your prospective mobile operator first, or
request porting a number from your existing operator first? Would you have to submit
your Proof of Identity documents thrice (old operator, new operator, portability agency)?
Despite rules that say the process should complete in 4 days, how long will the porting
process take? If there is an interim period when you are effectively a customer of both
operators, do you have to pay monthly rental to both?

4. Lock in Period, Inter-circle Issues

After porting your phone number, you are locked in to the new provider for 90 days
(three months). If you want to change again, you have no option but to wait out that
period. Currently, the Indian government only mentions number portability within a
circle (meaning a state in most cases). So you cannot retain the same phone number if
you move from Bombay to Delhi.

5. How to Identify a Phone Number?

With landline telephones, all you have to do is look at the STD code, the initial few digits
and you can immediately identify a phone number's attributes (physical location and
telecom operator). Until MNP comes into effect, you can still do something similar with
mobile numbers too. But after implementation, identifying operator, approximate area
and age of a number will become that much harder.

However MNP has its own Pros and Cons.

Pros:

1)The Mobile Number Portability (MNP)allows you to retain your existing or old mobile
phone number despite switching over to yet another service operator.You enjoy the
advantage of retaining your old mobile phone number without unduly worrying about the
burden of using or memorizing a new number.

2) Despite switching over to yet another service operator, there is no any additional
burden of informing it to your relatives and friends. If you are a business man or a
professional like a doctor or lawyer, your customers or clients can contact you with the
same old mobile phone number. Hence, despite switching over to a new service provider,
you retain your customers or clients intact.

3) You enjoy the benefits of better service from the new operator by retaining the same
old mobile phone number wherever you go or reside. Again, each service provider offer
some special services that cater to the needs of its bulk customers. You have the added
advantage of availing such special services from a new operator by retaining your old
mobile phone number using MNP facility.
4) MNP plays a significant role in reducing the fierce competition that prevails between
the various service providers. In fact each service provider offers various schemes of
tariff and facilities to retain their existing customers and to woo the customers from other
service providers. But, by availing the facility of Mobile Number Portability, many
subscribers voluntarily switch over from one service provider to another in quest of better
service. Thus it ease the burden of better service providers from wooing many subscribers
to their mobile phone service. In the result, each service provider will be heavily
burdened with the task of providing a better mobile phone service than the other service
providers. In other words each service provider will mainly focus his attention in
providing the best service to his existing customers and retain them.

5) The facility of Mobile Number Portability is a boon to the countries like India and
China, where the mobile phone users are in millions and their density is very high.

However, there are some disadvantages in availing the MNP facility.

Cons:

1) By switching over to a new service provider, a mobile phone subscriber loses the
special services and facilities offered by the previous or old service provider once and for
all.

2) Despite retaining the same old mobile phone number through MNP facility, it takes
time to acclimatize to the operating system and features of the new service provider.

3) In order to avail the MNP facility, you have to keep in touch with two service
providers, the old and the new. It involves a number of technical feasibilities as well
clerical formalities.

4) By availing the MNP facility, your mobile phone number loses it specific identity
associated with a particular operator. Now it is not possible to predict exactly from where
a subscriber avails his mobile phone service.

5) Since MNP is an advanced technical facility, it is offered at a comparatively high cost.

Hence, a common man may have to pay more for it.

Here are the steps to port your mobile number to any operator in India
– six quick steps:

1. Send an SMS to 1900 in following format: PORT Your Mobile Number- eg.
PORT 9999999999. (Simply sms “PORT <space> <10 digit mobile number
which you wish to port> to 1900.)
2. You will get a 8 digit unique porting code (UPC) instantly as a SMS.
3. Send this SMS to operator you want to migrate to quoting the unique code. This
code is valid only for a few days, and have to be applied again if it expires.
 4. Your new operator will check with your existing operator & if there are no dues
then approval will be given for porting.
5. You will get a SMS with the time and date when porting will take place. Rules
mandate that process be completed within 7 days of applying.
6. After porting is complete, wait for the SMS from your new operator confirming
the switch. Your phone may be dead for few hours when the porting takes place.

You need to submit:

• Duly filled CAF form with UPC code details

• Copy of valid Address and Identity proof
• Copy of last bill paid to current service provider (in case of postpaid customer)

MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions India Pvt Ltd is a joint venture between US-
based Telcordia Technologies, Inc. and Indian enterprise, DTC Pvt. Ltd. Based in
Gurgaon; MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions has been awarded a license by the
Department of Telecommunications to implement a mobile number portability
clearinghouse for Zone 2 in India, which includes the following 11 circles:

• Kolkata
• Tamil Nadu including Chennai
• Andhra Pradesh
• Karnataka
• Kerala
• Madhya Pradesh
• West Bengal
• Assam
• Bihar
• North East
• Orissa

TRAI has come down heavily on mobile telecom providers for charging high rates for
sending that SMS to 1900, among other things, but the pertinent details that you
absolutely must know are summed up here.

* SMS to 1900 – costs standard SMS charge

* Porting your number to the new network – not more than Rs. 19.00

* Requirements for porting number – all dues to current telecom provider should have
been fulfilled, if postpaid; prepaid customers would lose all existing balance, when the
number is ported

* Time taken to port the number – could be anywhere from 24 hours to 7 days; for certain
regions such as Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and North East circles, it could take upto 15
days.
* After submitting the request to port the number, you would need to wait until your new
service provider sends you an SMS on your current number, providing the date when
your number would be active on their network.

* You would need to start using the new SIM from your new mobile service provider on
the specified date. There would be a loss of service to your number for 2 hours
(maximum) between 12 am (midnight) and 5 am, during which neither the SIM from
your existing provider, nor the SIM from your new provider would be functional.

* After this loss of service, you would need to start using your new SIM

* After porting your number to a different network, you must stay on that network for a
minimum of 3 months. So if you’re thinking you could switch every month to a different
provider, think again – you’ll be stuck with your new provider for atleast 3 months.