Mobile number portability?

HI....

1.When this going to be implemented?

2. Whether CDMA number cab be transferred to GSM?

No idea doc, but one can already start squatting on interesting numbers from obscure providers by maintaining low call volumes, in anticipation of portability.

Hi doctor,

The last date was 31 march 2010, but it is streched futher as all operators are not ready to go with it, lack of sytem related issues.

It will be implemented in selected cities in first phase - Metros the first ones.

Expected was March 2010. But seems to have delayed.

Vested interests of the operators at work. When TRAI  announced that it will take a paltry 17 Rs or so to change over, they must have panicked and resorted to delay the onset of pain.

By the way, expect them to start to behave and provide much better service once portability is in place.

I work in the telecommunications domain and replying with the limited knowledge gained during this tenure:

There are still many issues, challenges and bottlenecks with respect to supporting mobile number portability and it is not at all easy for the mobile operators to start supporting the same. It is still in quite primitive stage in India.

So besides vested interests (Krishna is quite right here), there are genuine technical issues too. Many systems need to be enhanced, thoroughly tested, deployed, and need to run in sync with other systems in order to practically realize this goal. Many operators are working hard (there is no choice) but expect a few months delay atleast.

Hi jay,

trai should have a joint meeting with all gsm & cdma operators phase wise starting with metros second phase to all major cities, they should come out with fresh date only with confirmation with operators that each one should to comfortable with it. Because it is give & take between them each one should be ready with it

I agree. All operators along with TRAI have to conclusively decide the path and the timeline ahead.

Forgot to answer this. There are various types of Number Portability:

a) Operator Number Portability: This is the one we usually refer to as Number Portability. This is when a customer wants to switch to another operator (e.g. Airtel to Vodafone) while retaining the same (Airtel) number.

b) Location Number Portability: This is when, say an Airtel customer, moves from say Mumbai to Kerala and still continues to remain an Airtel customer. But he wishes to retain the same (Mumbai Airtel) number in Kerala.

c) Service Number Portability: This is when a customer who was using a different technology (e.g. CDMA) can switch to an operator supporting a different technology (e.g. GSM).

So, to answer, if Service Number Portability is also going to be implemented, we can transfer a CDMA number to GSM number.

Now, I am not aware whether this is mandated for Indian market. Need to find out.

MNP is not a minor change for TRA to mandate it unilaterally - the discussions between the regulator, the operators and the regulator's vendors have been going on for at least a couple of years now.  MNP has been on the table for a few years now - it is no surprise to any party involved.

That said, the implementation of MNP in India's unique environment where a single operator has multiple PLMNs (circles, each with its unique code) would be unlike any other implementation.  MNP usually means the ability to port a number (either IMSI/SIM portability or MSISDN/Mobile Number-only portability) to a different operator in the same service area.

Logically therefore, portability should only be possible within the same service area - i.e., between the different operators in the  same service area (eg., between Hutch and AirTel in Mumbai, but not from Hutch in Mumbai to AirTel in UP).

Why would we have this restriction?  Its because AirTel in India is not one unique operator with a distinct PLMN code, but a group of operators with unique PLMN codes, all owned by Bharti AirTel.  And so on and so forth.

Number portability BETWEEN technologies (CDMA/GSM) would only be possible in the second scenario - i.e., there is no IMSI/SIM portability but only MSISDN portability.  What it means is that the customer would have to register with and get a terminal device (handset for CDMA, SIM for GSM) from the operator that he wishes to port to.  He cannot continue having the same number on the same SIM, he has to change SIM/Handsets.

MSISDN portability is easier to implement because it does not require physical porting between operators, only a common 'ported number' database to be maintained and updated between all operators.

IMHO this is going to be very difficult in India because of the numbers involved.  We're not talking a few millions here - we're talking at least a couple of hundred millions.  Due to the sheer logistics involved, I really doubt if this will be a working proposition in this country.  I would love to be proven wrong because that would mean that we as customers stand to gain.

Has anyone tried MNP?  i have sent PORT <no> to 1900, but received a replay from 1901 that " you have entered wrong keyword"  !!!!