Full mobile number portability (MNP) will finally be coming to India by March 31 next year, according to an unnamed source from the Telecom Commission (TC). This means mobile subscribers across the nation will be able to keep their old number even if they’re switching between different telecom circles.
At present, Indian mobile subscribers are offered the option of changing service providers and retaining their mobile number as long as they’re within the same service area. From 2015 onwards, you can relocate to anywhere else in the country and choose to keep your old contact number whether you’re using the same network operator or a different one.
The decision is based on recommendations provided by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The TC plans to launch full MNP by March 31, as pointed out by an NDTV Profit report sourced from PTI. This ties in with an earlier story which also mentioned the aforesaid target date, although the roll-out still needs to be approved by Telecom Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Also see: National full mobile number portability means you may change cities, not your number
The TRAI has revealed that by August 31 this year, almost 13-crore citizens requested for MNP. Service providers will be given a maximum of 6 months to make the alterations required in their networks in order to be able to deliver MNP. The ‘Digital India’ venture by the government has coaxed the telecom department to try and get brands to comply with these directions within 5 months.
After mobile number portability was introduced in India in 2011, users across the nation had taken advantage of the facility 100 million times by May 30, 2014.