MNP: Customer is king, but big firms unfazed

The nationwide introduction of mobile number portability has certainly empowered the customer and led to greater competition, but it is not quite the game-changer that some people expected.

 ''It is open season now'', said in telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar, after no less a figure than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched the service on Thursday. Chandrashekhar added that the move had proved that the customer is king.

But is the average customer as excited about the new service as the government and the media are? Available figures suggest not; but then it is early days.

Some operators – particularly the smaller ones – have been quick to launch schemes to try and cash in on the new provisions. Mumbai-based Loop Mobile, for instance, has offered to reimburse the cost of any calls dropped due to congestion on its network. Since poor connectivity and 'dropped calls' are expected to be the main reasons for customers to change their operator, this makes sense.

On the other hand, MTS – largely owned by Russia's Sistema – has tied up with banks to offer an instalment scheme for payment of bills. Obviously, this scheme is meant for low-end customers who make up the bulk of mobile phone users in the country.

Number portability was mainly pushed for by the smaller operators who got their licences in or after 1998. They were hoping to wean away customers from the established players whose networks are more congested.