Subscribers anxiously waiting for mobile number portability (MPN) to begin in September are in for disappointment as the government is set to miss the deadline by a couple of months due to unpreparedness on operational issues like porting charges, billing and unique routing number.
At a recent meeting between operators and the department of telecommunications (DoT) to take stock of the developments, it was unanimously agreed that with the present level of preparedness, there was no way that MNP can be implemented in the four metros along with Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh by September.
?With the present level of preparedness if MNP is implemented in September there would be large-scale chaos. We have apprised the DoT of the issues and they have assured us that the September deadline would be extended,? an official of a mobile firm told FE.
The MNP enables subscribers to retain the mobile number while changing the service provider. Officials said once the operational issues such as billing, porting charges and unique routing numbers are settled it would take operators four months to make the requisite changes in their software, meaning that MNP will not begin before January, 2010. Take for instance, porting charges?the amount a subscriber will have to pay for shifting from one operator to another?is yet to be finalised. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) will come out with a consultation paper by the week-end after which the operators need to be given a month?s time to respond after which the charges would be finalised.
Another major issue, which needs to be finalised and which will also get addressed by the Trai?s consultation paper is settling billing issues amongst operators. For instance, if a subscriber ports after defaulting with one operator how are the dues going to be settled. Mobile operators do not share any list of defaulters amongst themselves.
Other issue is of settling roaming charges of porting customers. Domestic roaming bills are generated within 45 days and international within 60 days, what will be the mechanism of settling such dues if a subscriber ports before the period?
The biggest issue, which needs to be settled is the allocation of unique routing number to the operators for each subscriber. This number basically remains with the original operator based on which calls are routed to the subscriber as he ports to different operators. Sources said that some of the routing numbers granted to the operators are clashing with the phone numbers, which would create chaos.
Last month, Trai had issued the draft regulations on MNP, which among other things stipulated a 90-day lock-in period for subscribers with an operator before porting.
The DoT had issued guidelines for MNP service licence in August last year and its envisaged geographical division of the country into two number portability zones, each consisting of 11 licensed service areas.
Subsequently, one MNP service provider in each zone was selected?Syniverse Technologies (in north and western India) and MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions (for east and southern India). The licenses were granted in March this year.
The MNP service provider will be responsible for establishing, operating and maintaining the MNP clearing house and the number portability database.