Mobile number portability to start from 20 September

The department of telecommunications (DoT) will launch mobile number portability (the facility of switching operators even as they retain their existing numbers) for mobile phone users in the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai and some other parts of the country by September this year.

Mobile number portability (MNP) allows subscribers to retain their mobile phone numbers even if they switch access service provider or mobile technology. MNP is provided by a separate licensee other than the current access service providers with effect from 20 March 2009.

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.

It is mandatory to facilitate timely implementation of mobile number portability service in the respective licensed service area by upgradtion, operation and maintenance of his networks/systems to support MNP service operation at his own costs," DoT said in its release.

TRAI is reported to be aiming at number portability charges below Rs300 and a changeover time of a maximum two days from shifting from one service provider to another.