Use MNP, switch your mobile service: Cheers

Etisalat DB, one of the telecom operators whose licenses had been cancelled in a Supreme Court verdict last month, today sent an advisory to its 'Cheers' clients to ship out as it winds up its Indian operations (See: SC cancels all 2G licences, orders fresh spectrum auction).

Etisalat DB is a joint venture between UAE's Emirates Telecommunication Corp (Etisalat) and India's Dynamix Balwas (DB) Group.

Operating as Cheers Mobile, it had garnered 1.6 million customers, or 0.22 per cent of the market as of January 2012. It had actually added around 21,740 subscribers in that month, according to official figures.

''Customers are encouraged to port out their Cheers number to a network of their choice as soon as possible by following the process prescribed by India's telecommunications regulator TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India),'' the company said in a statement.

Etisalat had already announced its intention to quit the Indian market last month along with S Tel, another comparatively minor operator (See: 2G fallout: Etisalat joins STel in exiting telecom mart).

S Tel had earlier asked its customers to use the mobile number portability (MNP) route to change their operator.