Dot Rings Mobile Number Portability

[me_saket 73]

moderator can u plz merge these two topic if u found similar

http://www.rimweb.in/forums/index.php?showtopic=10119&st=0

http://www.rimweb.in/forums/index.php?showtopic=20315&st=30

[Sadikk 301]

R-Com is Ring Master...

I love Ambanis......

[SUDYEcaZ 67]

Mobile number portability not before Dec 31: DoT

NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday extended to December 31 implementation of mobile number portability, a facility allowing subscribers to retain their numbers even after changing service providers.

The 100-day delay in the scheduled execution of the MNP is attributed to operators' inability to upgrade their network as well as to the delay on part of regulator TRAI to come out with tariff for the service.

"The implementation of MNP is under progress. However, this required customisation and upgradation of the existing network to be capable of providing the MNP service. Certain technical and commercial issues related to it are also being resolved.

All this requires considerable time and effort. Therefore, it has been decided by the Department of Telecom to extend the date of implementation of MNP in Metro Category A service areas to December 31, 2009 in the first phase", DoT said in a statement.

Accordingly the service is likely to be available by end of 2009 to begin with in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, it said.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had issued guidelines for for its implementation in the country in August last year.

[Greatest 55]

I love India and its Bureaucrats...!!

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

MNP and 3G in Indian Telecom is "VARUUM...... Aaana VARAATHHUUU...." (Tamil)

Even "5L x C" is not enough for our central Ministers...

[ravi_patent 28]

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/09/24/stories/2009092451560400.htm

TRAI allows portability within same circle

In a move that could benefit operators with mobile services based on both GSM and CDMA technologies, the regulator has approved number portability within the same circle .

“Mobile Number Portability includes porting from one technology to another technology of the same service provider. It is immaterial whether the donor and the recipient operators are the same or different as the functions of the donor operator and the recipient operator are to be carried out independently,” the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) stated in its regulation released on Wednesday.

This means that operators such as Reliance Communications will be able to port their CDMA subscribers to GSM network and allow them to retain their numbers.

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) allows the subscribers to retain their existing mobile telephone number when they move from one mobile operator to another, irrespective of the technology.

TRAI has, however, limited porting to within the same circle. This means a Delhi subscriber cannot port his number if he shifts base to Chennai.

Analysts have, however, played down the impact of MNP on the churn.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/business/india-business/Separate-rule-for-porting-charges-soon/

“Implementing MNP by December 31 will be a real challenge as there are many unresolved issues,” admitted COAI director general T V Ramachandran.

“A separate regulation for porting charges will be released in 15 days”, Trai chairman J S Sarma told ToI

articleshow/5048787.cms

Edited September 24, 2009 by ravi_patent

[Greatest 55]

dates and number... dates and numbers... when will we see the real MNP being implemented??

[srk006 21]

ideally porting among circles should be implemented to see a huge churn

[csmart 472]

Times of India, Mumbai has published following 2 articles (clubbed together) related to MNP..

From Dec 31, cell users can switch service, retain nos

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Cellphone users in India will soon be able to change their service providers while retaining their numbers. Telecom regulator Trai on Wednesday issued regulations that will govern telecom mobile number portability (MNP) when it is launched on December 31 in metros and ‘A’ category circles and in the rest of the country by March 20 next year.

MNP allows subscribers to retain their existing mobile telephone number when they move from one service provider to another in a licensed service area, irrespective of the mobile technology. It is thus a highly consumer-friendly initiative as it helps increase competition between service providers, catalysing improved quality of service.

The deadline for implementation of MNP has already been extended twice, following resistance from operators who fear losing their high value, post-paid subscribers.

“Implementing MNP by December 31 will be a real challenge as there are many unresolved issues,’’ director general of COAI, T V Ramachandran admitted to TOI. According to the regulations, MNP will be available only within a given licensed service area.

User Friendly

Users can switch service providers while retaining their existing numbers irrespective of the mobile technology A mobile subscriber can make a porting (switch) request only 90 days after his connection is activated If a number is ported once, it can be ported again only after 90 days from the date of the previous porting Subscribers will have to pay porting charges, if any Trai allows a maximum of 4 days for the completion of the porting process in all licensed service areas except J&K, Assam and the North-East MNP norms within 15 days: Trai

New Delhi: Under the telecom mobile number portability (MNP) scheme, any mobile subscriber is eligible to make a porting request but only 90 days after the date of activation of the mobile connection. If a number is already ported once, the number can be ported again only after 90 days from the date of the previous porting.

Subscribers must approach the recipient operator (the operator to whom the subscriber wants to port his number) and pay the porting charges, if any. “A separate regulation for porting charges will be released in 15 days,’’ Trai chairman J S Sarma told TOI.

The subscriber making the porting request has to give an undertaking that all billed dues to the donor operator have been paid as on the date of the request for porting, that he shall pay dues to the donor operator till the eventual porting of the number and that he understands and agrees that in event of non-payment of any such dues, the ported mobile number is liable to be disconnected by the recipient operator.

While a subscriber can withdraw his porting request within 24 hours of its submission to the recipient operator, the porting charges will not be refundable.

Trai allows a maximum of 4 days for the completion of the porting process in all licensed service areas except J&K, Assam and the North-East where the maximum time allowed is 12 days. However, efforts will be made to further reduce the porting period, it says. It is the responsibility of the originating operator to route the call to the correct terminating network.

Through these regulations, the telecom watchdog is laying down the basic business process framework for implementation of MNP in the country. TRAI placed the draft regulations on its website on June 27 for consultation with stakeholders. These regulations follow a careful review of written comments and open house discussions a month later.

[FEVIN-RAJ 61]

y the hell this COAI is aganist MNP ?

they know tht they are going to loose a lot of customers...

CDMA is the best network in terms coverage and voice clarity

[sreek 5]

can we shift frm cdma to gsm?

[srk006 21]

^^^ yes! within the circle any operator any technology

[sreek 5]

^^

thats gr8

if tata continues pay per cal i vl b with them else jai ho docomo

[savramesh 37]

Govt to introduce mobile no. portability by Dec 31

Source

Hyderabad, Sep 23 (PTI) Union Minister for IT and Communication A Raja today said the Centre has decided to introduce mobile phone number portability in four metros with effect from December 31.

Under this scheme, a subscriber of BSNL can switch over to any mobile service provider by retaining the old number, the Minister said on the sidelines of the inaugural meeting of International Telecom Union here.

The service will be extended to rest of the country in next six months, he said.

Raja said the government is contemplating to amend cyber laws to protect the interest of internet users.

On Bharti Airtel's USD 23 billion proposal to acquire a controlling stake in South Africa's telecom service provider MTN, which hit a road block after South Africa insisted on dual listing, he said the issue was now under the purview of Minister of Finance (MoF).

[manishag 17]

ideally porting among circles should be implemented to see a huge churn

1st they should introduce the MNP within Circle. as of now they are just extending it. we have heard so many times that MNP is going to be introduced by this Date or that date. but till the date no MNP has been introduced because of the BABU's sitting there.

as of now we are just getting Tarikh pe Tarikh

[supernova 47]

No reliability ; they may again extend dates

[ravi_patent 28]

will youswitch

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/will-you-switch/371511/

An IMRB study details how mobile number portability will impact service providers.

After a long wait, Indian mobile phone users will soon have the option to switch their service provider and retain their number. After much debate, mobile number portability will be introduced in the country in December. How will it impact service providers? Customers unhappy with the service but attached to their number are likely to switch first. Overseas, the churn has lasted two to six months after portability was introduced. Thus, within the first half of 2010, service providers could end up with lesser market shares if they don’t guard against the marketing moves of rivals.

IMRB, the market research outfit, has come out with a syndicated study called Switch to forecast the behaviour of mobile phone users after portability. It was conducted across 40,000 subscribers who have owned a connection for at least three months (since subscribers can’t use portability within 90 days of getting a connection, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), across all operators and the seven cities in which portability is slated to roll out first — Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad.

IMRB quizzed users on the importance of their numbers, their satisfaction with service providers and if the criteria set by TRAI such as paying Rs 250 and going without a network for two hours would deter a switch. They were then asked if they wished to change and why. Thus, the study was able to track the likely churn or the number of subscribers who will shift from one service provider to the next, GSM to CDMA, pre-paid to post-paid and so on.

Who’ll switch?

As many as 70 to 90 per cent subscribers feel it is extremely important to retain their current mobile number. After portability is allowed, the survey expects an average 20 per cent of the people to move out of their existing operators. Delhi could see the highest churn of 24 per cent and Ahmedabad the lowest of 8 per cent. It says that 25 to 35 per cent subscribers will switch operators due to network congestion and another 17 to 25 per cent due to tariff options — grievances that often top the dissatisfaction list of Indian subscribers.

Service providers say that with prepaid customers comprising more than 85 per cent of the Indian mobile telephony market, they are no strangers to churn. Says Idea Cellular Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Rajat Mukarji: “We already have a vibrant prepaid market where customers switch service providers periodically.”

Surprise of surprises, only 10 to 20 per cent prepaid users on average told IMRB they want to switch. Portability, IMRB found out, will hit the relatively loyal and stable market of postpaid consumers harder. This is crucial because such customers turn in higher revenue. Market estimates suggest the average revenue from a postpaid user is up to twice that of a prepaid user. Fifty per cent of the postpaid users in the survey were willing to switch once portability is activated.

Ernst & Young Leader (telecommunication) Prashant Singhal points out that portability will appeal more to users in socio-economic categories A and B — people who opt for a postpaid connection that requires a certain credit criteria and stronger address proof. Subscribers in socio-economic categories C and D, Singhal feels, will not be affected much because they are primarily tariff-sensitive and don’t dwell much on customer service or convenience of use. Among post-paid users, reveals IMRB Group Business Director Sanjay Pal, there is a feeling of getting less from service providers than what they deserve.

There are satisfied subscribers also who might get tempted to switch to a new service provider if they can carry their number along, according to the survey. Pal observes that despite a satisfaction rate of around 60 to 65 per cent among GSM users, the percentage of satisfied customers willing to move after portability could range from 6 to 20 per cent. Only 6 per cent of Delhi’s satisfied customers are willing to move, while Ahmedabad clocks the highest at 20 per cent. Pal attributes it to an “anti- incumbency factor” — the tendency of users who still want to choose another operator even when it has nothing special to offer.

Switch estimates that for most players, the maximum movement of inflow and outflow (nearly 65 per cent) would occur in the first two months because those who have waited for portability will do so immediately. It also underlines the importance to brace for churn in a brief span of time. It would trigger the need to pull customers as it would the need to retain existing customers.

Mukarji of Idea says: “In the first phase, users who have been less than six months with an operator will be most likely to port their numbers to other operators because they haven’t yet developed a sense of comfort with their operator the way users with over a year’s subscription would have.”

Hence, Singhal says this will bring the quality of service to the fore in marketing campaigns of operators. “More and more players will talk about their network and what their customer service means, rather than harp on tariff schemes which most players have been doing till now.” Abdul Khan, head of marketing, Tata DoCoMo, says, “Both incumbents and challengers will have to shore up their overall customer experience measures.”

It won’t be inexpensive, mind you. Portability will require operators to share data and agree on porting charges and timelines as well as upgrade their technology. Singhal puts the investment at a few hundred million dollars. “The cost will work out to around $70 per subscriber that is acquired,” he estimates. Operators’ bandwidth, service and accounting would be put to test with the extra inflow and outflow of subscribers. The survey also identifies outflow and inflow patterns that will help operators fine-tune their post-portability strategy.

CDMA vs GSM

Playing spoilsport for the operators will be disproportionate outflow and inflow ratios. In Mumbai, the survey found, a leading GSM player might get more subscribers than it loses, but the outflow is expected to take place at a faster pace. Another GSM player in the city stands to gain 128 per cent (if 100 subscribers move out, 228 will move into its network from other operators). In the same market, a CDMA player will experience a net impact of 80 per cent (will lose 180 subscribers for 100 it gains). The upshot is that CDMA users are more than willing to port to GSM networks. “High-revenue CDMA users are most likely to migrate to GSM,” says Pal.

“A general shift from CDMA to GSM is too simplistic. CDMA operators issue handsets with connections that are locked to the operator’s network. So when migrating to GSM, it would cost CDMA users more than just the cost of a SIM card. They will have to invest in a handset as well,” says Tata Teleservices Chief Marketing Officer Lloyd Mathias. “We are in the process of profiling users on their usage and handsets. For instance, we will contact those who have been with us for two years and have a monthly bill of Rs 1,000 and more with special offers such as discounts. This could be a group of a few hundreds or even 10,000.”

While CDMA operators are expected to be hit the hardest, market leaders stand to gain the most because of their strong brand equity. Players in the middle rungs, who don’t lead yet, could be in the eye of the churn too, according to Pal. Singhal differs: “Players who are neither leaders nor newcomers will gain subscribers because of less congested networks (unlike leaders) and stronger customer service and infrastructure than new players, so they can handle the traffic better.”

Brand pull and customer service will decide the drift for the operators. In Delhi, IMRB found that a GSM operator has a very strong pull over its rivals. Its market share is set to increase after portability, according to the survey. “High-end customers will be more sensitive to branding and customer experience. Branding power in telecom becomes clear when users are ready to forgive their operator for its errors because the brand resonates with them,” says Mukarji.

[Greatest 55]

arey baba, sirf research se kuch nahi hoga.. plus, they have only researched metros/big cities... Telecommunications is much more than tht... people in the tier 1 and tier 2 cities want to shift their operator..

let the MNP start and people will rush..

[Sadikk 301]

Well i am not planning to change my operator.. but in worst case if ill change ill port it to Tata Indicom CDMA..

will love to see this industry war.. interesting..

[dkaile 1,051]

Number Portability is approved by TRAI today. Total cost to consumer is Rs. 38/- (19/- each to existing and new service provider)....

Telecom regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday announced the charges for mobile number portability (MNP) which enables subscribers to switch telecom operators without getting their phone numbers changed.

TRAI said the MNP users will have to pay a maximum of Rs 19 to change the telecom operator while retaining the old number. Number portability will be a reality in Metros and A category circles by December 20 and across India by March 2010.To port his number, the subscriber will have to request the new operator for acceptance of his connection. The process will have to be completed in four days and the subscriber will have to give porting charges to the new operator.

This could be one window of opportunity that new licencees could be looking at to connect with potential subscribers. Existing operators could also see this as an opportunity to let go of those subscribers who are not profitable.

“The principal loss in any kind of number portability are the incumbents, i.e. the bigger players who have been in the market earlier. The number of people who are likely to port is believed by most analysts to be around 2-3 per cent,” said Mahesh Uppal, a telecom analyst.

A study done by AC Nielsen on the impact of number portability earlier this year had indicated that 55 per cent of the respondents were satisfied with their mobile operator and 48 per cent with their network quality.

Prepaid, low and medium spenders are not motivated to switch operators. Circles where high retention levels was noticed were Chennai, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and UP East.

Loyalty among older subscribers and women was found to be stronger than others.

Now, the customer who's calls ring the loudest in the books is the one, which operators will look out for.

Edited November 20, 2009 by dkaile

[Greatest 55]

^^^ +1 for u....

[vvinayakpai 26]

Rs. 38 to change the service provider is great!!!!!!!!!

Really CONSUMER IS KING!!!!!!

But I feel that it is too low a price and it may see frequent changes of service providers to take benefits of other service providers.

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

Is it possible to change from POSTPAID of one operator to PREPAID of another operator???? :Sorprendido:

If that is possible, I will change my MOM's Airtel postpaid to DoCoMo Prepaid...

Edited November 20, 2009 by kanagadeepan

[swapnil05in 2]

early MNP implementation will see change for better network coverage only B'coz existin operators will respond to the new tariff offered by new operators.

So i dont see any impact of MNP on operators point of view that they stand to loose customers.

[sougatadc 358]

Can't believe! It's only Rs 19 for each MNP (Rs. 38 in total)!

I'm eagerly waiting.