New Delhi: The government on Thursday extended to
December 31 implementation of mobile number portability, a
facility allowing subscribers to retain their numbers even
after changing service providers.
The 100-day delay in the scheduled execution of the MNP
is attributed to operators' inability to upgrade their network
as well as to the delay on part of regulator TRAI to come out
with tariff for the service.
"The implementation of MNP is under progress. However,
this required customisation and upgradation of the existing
network to be capable of providing the MNP service. Certain
technical and commercial issues related to it are also being
resolved.
All this requires considerable time and effort.
Therefore, it has been decided by the Department of Telecom to
extend the date of implementation of MNP in Metro Category A
service areas to December 31, 2009 in the first phase", DoT
said in a statement.
Accordingly the service is likely to be available by end
of 2009 to begin with in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Maharashtra,
Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, it said.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had issued
guidelines for for its implementation in the country in August
last year.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, September 03, 2009, 20:32