Dot Rings Mobile Number Portability

[raccoon 53]

Not just RIM ...most operators are offering much cheaper on-net calls. It will be much more difficult to ascertain the operator after number portablity ...and will lead to some inconvinence. But I guess it will be more than offset by the convinence and advantages of being able to always maintian one number!

But we will really need some other system where we can ascertain which operator we are calling... I hope the authorites realise this.

[jatin_the_great2003 0]

Guys, every coin have 2 side....

If the NP system bring us good service, at the same time it gonna creat chaos...!!!!

[HetalDP 947]

In my Home i 2 Phone

And all other family member have different company phone like Idea, Airtel, Hutch Except BSNL and Tata Think if MNP Come, i along with WHole Family and also the Other Family can shift and latch to any one Network so Network Congetion will be reduced and OnNet plan can also be used.

There are more Positive side then Negative

I can also Create my Clients Group with my Support team into one Network for better client Servicing. !!!

[Honest 836]

^^^

@Hetal

Well said my dear friend Hetal. You are 100% right. Number portability system will definetely going to provide much more positive benefits to all subscribers.

Regards.

[coolrajiv 1]

In my Home i 2 Phone

And all other family member have different company phone like Idea, Airtel, Hutch Except BSNL and Tata Think if MNP Come, i along with WHole Family and also the Other Family can shift and latch to any one Network so Network Congetion will be reduced and OnNet plan can also be used.

There are more Positive side then Negative

I can also Create my Clients Group with my Support team into one Network for better client Servicing. !!!

U r right buddy there r more positives than negatives if MNP is applied .. but the question to be asked is when this will happen?

Its high time TRAI & DOT does something abt this now..

Edited August 28, 2007 by coolrajiv

[HetalDP 947]

I am on Close watch to TRAI for Open Discussion when ever it will start i will Post Backt here Support it.

[coolrajiv 1]

I am on Close watch to TRAI for Open Discussion when ever it will start i will Post Backt here Support it.

Sure buddy will support it ..

[Arun 795]

Introduce number portability: Government

27 Aug, 2007, 0153 hrs IST, Times News Network

Nearly 18 months after the telecom regulator TRAI mooted the idea, the government now says it is ‘actively considering’ number portability, which means that the subscriber retains his mobile number even if he switches to another service provider.

We would urge the government to roll in number portability and restrict the duration of the ‘active consideration’ on how the system-wide costs should be shared. Undoubtedly, the Indian telecom market is extremely competitive with 5-8 players in each service area (circle). And the low average revenue per user (ARPU) is evidence that the market has worked well so far.

But thanks to certain peculiarities of the market, there’s no guarantee this would continue. Once a consumer opts for a particular operator, he effectively becomes its captive subscriber. The option of switching to a competing service provider is not practical because of the inconvenience and costs associated with taking a new number and making that known to others.

This limits the competition in the telecom space. Secondly, because there is no national market — the country is split into telecom circles — telecom companies can have differential pricing. This exposes circles that have relatively high telecom penetration to risks of collusion. The recent tariff hikes by GSM operators underscores the risks.

Number portability adds another dimension to competition in telecom sector. It allows a subscriber, not happy with tariffs or service quality, to switch operators. Of course, price collusion is still not ruled out, but TRAI should be able to address that. The only issue is operationalising number portability; the upfront cost estimate for which varies from Rs 900 crore to Rs 3,000 crore.

Whatever be the cost, it is appropriate that industry foots the bill, as recommended by TRAI, depending on how many subscribers they have. The industry majors have EBITDA margins in the range of 30-40% and return on capital of over 25% and can, therefore, easily share the costs.

Besides, making industry bear the cost would ensure they are kept down to the bare minimum. If the government decides to price spectrum, which it should, it could allow companies a deduction for costs incurred for providing number portability.

[savramesh 37]

Mobile portability coming soon

Statesman News Service

BANGALORE, April 29: Come September, Kolkata, as a metro, and Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, as circles, will get to enjoy the facility of mobile portability. The clearing house for the purpose, in collaboration with telecom service providers, will be set up by MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions Limited, a joint venture with Telcordia, USA.

After September, the company would initiate action to provide the facility in Kerala, Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal, North-East and Assam. The company will set up a disaster recovery unit in Kolkata and an application centre in Bangalore for its services using IBM platform.

Announcing this here today, Mr Ashok Sapra, managing director, said that the department of telecommunications had given the exclusive licence to MNP Interconnection to implement number portability services in zone two which covers the southern and eastern India, particularly, Kolkata, as a metro.

The announcement follows the application filed by Telcordia, engaged in development of fixed, mobile and broadband communication software and services. It has received the final clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. Telcordia’s proposal for FDI has also been cleared and the investment by MNP Interconnection Solutions would hover around $10 million, to start with.

[Himanshu Singh 19]

Its a welcome news. I have just one doubt about the number portability though. Consider those who use on net calls or if the service provider itself offers lower on net calls. Now such users wont know for sure if a particular number still belongs to same network or it shifted to another network? There should be a way to know which number is on which network.

[ipkonfig 10]

Thanks for the info

Am waiting for them to launch in Kerala !!

[savramesh 37]

@sachin,

similar problem for recharging and topup.. so yet to know how this system works.. anyone have info on this ?, pls post..

[ravi_patent 28]

@himanshu

ur concern is genuine and probably a voice alert befor the call gets connected may be ok,however i see another dangr.

unable to recognize such on net calls the calling networks may charge the caller,which they should not be doing had there been no MNP.i faced similar prob wt idea back in nov 2002 ,when BSNL added 2 as suffix .was billed by idea andhad to fight very hard to prove them wrong.

Edited April 30, 2009 by ravi_patent

[me_saket 73]

@ravi. ofcourse onnet call chrg is problem. but wat was wrng with addng 2 by bsnl

[Arun 795]

Mobile number portability at under Rs 300?

May 01, 2009 14:07 IST

Press Trust of India

Consumers may not have to pay more than Rs 300 to change from one mobile service provider to another while keeping the phone number intact, a facility likely to start from September 20.

"It will be one time cost for subscribers seeking portability but the charge is not yet finalised by the department of telecommunication and the telecom Regulatory Authority of India, on which they are working.

So far, it seems the charges would not be more than Rs 300 but this could be even below Rs 200," sources close to the developments told PTI.

Deliberations by the government is being carried out to keep cost and charges at a level so as not to discourage subscribers willing to change their service provider, an optional facility, and at the same time make the service providers a viable business model, they said.

The charge is directly linked to the number of subscribers, who would seek the change in service provider out of the total mobile user base of about 400 million.

The DoT has offered licence to Syniverse Technologies for north and western region and MNP Interconnection Telecom Ltd for eastern and southern region to rollout number portability across the country.

There is no comparable market in the 50-60 countries which has adopted number portability as the pre-paid subscriber base in the country is almost 90 per cent of the total subscriber base and has low average revenue per user.

"Majority of the countries had initially levied charge to mobile subscribers seeking to switch their service provides but five years later majority of them were forced to waive it and the same is paid by the winning mobile operator," MNP Interconnection Telecom chairman (designate) and president,Interconnection Solutions, Telcordia, Richard Jacowleff said.

Telcordia is a US-based telecom solutions provider and is the 74 per cent stake holder in Indian JV MNP.

The combined investment in the first phase by MNP Interconnection Telecom and Syniverse Technologies is estimated to be $20 million for installing and managing number portability clearing house and centralised datacenter.

Both the companies hope to launch the service on the same day -- tentatively September 20 for the first phase of launch.

However, that would be possible if telecom operators are also geared with the requisite upgradation of system for the new system, the sources said.

In the first phase, the facility would be launched in the telecom cricles of Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Andra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Maharastra.

In second phase, the service would be launched in the rest of the 14 circles would be within a year.

Syniverse India operation head Sanjay Kasturia said global average seeking porting in the first year would be 3-4 per cent.

"We will keep our infrastructure ready for 15-20 per cent of total mobile user base initially and scale it up in accordance to the demand," Jacowleff said.

[ravi_patent 28]

@saket

the problem wt 2 prefix was this.idea has offered in those days 2002 oct free incoming from 3 any numbers and in my case those were bsnl's. idea's system failed to recognize the 2 prefix for few days when bsnl added 2 prefix and consequently i was billed higher.idea staff were adamant abt their billing and admitted only after going through the detailed billing .

[savramesh 37]

DoT notifies mobile number portability; service from September 20

Economic Times

10 May 2009

NEW DELHI: Come September, cellphone users in some parts of the country, including the four metros Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, will have the facility to switch operators even while retaining their existing number.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has issued a notification in this regard saying, "Mobile Number Portability is to be implemented in Delhi, Mumbai, Maharashtra and Gujarat Service areas of Zone I and Kolkata, Tamil Nadu, Chennai, Andhra and Karnataka of Zone 2 within six months of award of licence by September 20, 2009, and in the rest of the country by March 20, 2010".

Syniverse Technologies (Zone 1) and MNP Interconnection (Zoin 2) are the two companies who have been licenced by the DoT to carry out the MNP exercise.

The DoT further said TRAI will decide on all kinds of tariffs related to MNP like the transaction fee to be charged from the customer for seeking change of number.

But sources said number portability charges are likely to be below Rs 300 and it will take maximum two days to change the service provider.

TRAI is learnt to be keen to keep the cost at a reasonable level so as not to discourage subscribers willing to change their service provider and at the same time make it a viable business model for the service providers.

Mobile number portability is to be implemented in Delhi, Mumbai, Maharashtra and Gujarat service areas of Zone I and Kolkata, Tamil Nadu, Chennai, Andhra and Karnataka of Zone 2 within six months of award of licence (by 20 September 2009), and in the rest of the country by 20 March 2010," the department of telecom (DoT) said in a notification.

MNP will be operated by Syniverse Technologies in Zone 1 and by MNP Interconnection in Zone 2, according to DoT. The tariffs, including transaction fee, would be decided by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), DoT further said.

Zone 1 consists of Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (E and W), Delhi and Mumbai service areas.

MNP Interconnections Telecom Solutions India Pvt Ltd will provide MNP solutions in Zone 2 consisting of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, North East, Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, West Bengal and Kolkata service areas.

[Harshal 11]

If the charges are going to be below Rs. 500, in all likelihood the new service provider will bear the charges for postpaid users ready for a 6mth - 1 yr commitment.

[chintan1 6]

Hi All ,

I have doubt here ..is there MNP between GSM & CDMA also ...i.e if i am RCDMA customer then can i shift to Airtel/Vodafone by keeping same no .......if Yes then in this case we would also need to change the handset & reverse also holds true .i.e Vice- versa. Kindly please clear my doubt .........

Thanks for the inputs in Advance ............

[Saurav 22]

yes when u switch technology u need to change handset.

[supernova 47]

or may be mnp works within cdma to cdma or gsm to gsm .

in case cdma-gsm and vice versa there then surely one will have to change handset

[me_saket 73]

mnp is intrducd to retain only mobile num. nowhr it is mentioned that tech cant be chngd. so be ready with new handset if u plan to chng gsm-cdma or vive versa

[djain1989 16]

one thing I want to clear, using MNP can we just migrate to different operators or we can migrate to different circles as well retaining the same old number?

For ex I wanna move my Orissa's number to Maharashtra Circle (of course WITHOUT ROAMING).. Then will it be possible too?

[srk006 21]

^^ It should.. else what's the use of portability?

[kshah 452]

No circle change is not allowed atleast for now.