Switch operator, retain number

Number portability may raise the quality bar, but the industry is resisting it, feels Nivedita Mookerji.

Last month, the telecom regulator issued a revolutionary recommendation, something that would change the lives of mobile phone users and the ways of telecom operators.

If accepted by the government, the recommendation on ‘number portability' is expected to raise the quality bar for the telecom industry, said experts.

But what is number portability? It is all about a mobile user having the freedom to switch over to the network of any other service provider, while retaining the same phone number. So, once that happens, have no fears about losing your phone number, that has become your identity. To begin with, the regulator wants portability for the mobile users, and subsequently for all telecom subscribers.

But the industry continues to resist the move. In fact, cellular associations have argued that fixed line number portability should be introduced first. So far, the government has not taken a stand on the issue of phone number portability.

Now, what exactly did the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommend? That the government should mandate mobile number portability (MNP) for all cell phone companies. The facility should be put in place by April 1, 2007, it said. That's less than one year from now. As per the Trai plan, the metros will have portabilsity first, then move on to smaller category cities and towns within six months.

Trai's objective is clear: to bring relief to mobile customers. Experts are in sync with the view. The move is expected to step up competition in the telecom industry, thereby improving service quality. With 90 million mobile customers, this is one booming market where retaining customers is the key.

There's a cost issue involved too. Industry estimates peg it between Rs 1,500 crore and Rs 3,000 crore as a one-time cost for upgrading networks to enable number portability.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) director general TV Ramachandran said: "That amount could be better used for setting up towers in rural India and improve teledensity."

Currently, the teledensity in India is over 12%. Ramachandran, who represents the GSM mobile industry, pointed out that in countries where number portability was introduced, the teledensity ranged from 25% to 30%.

The CDMA group, refused to comment. Its members are said to be having conflicting opinions on the matter.

Besides, Ramachandran argued that as pre-paid subscribers are a majority, the churn was high, and retaining a mobile phone number was not a big deal.

But, Dhananjay KV, a Supreme Court advocate championing number portability, cited an observation made by the International Telecommunication Users Group (ITUG) that "Number portability was the pre-requisite of a competitive market".

ITUG stated: "A telephone number signifies an individual or an organisation and is therefore their property. Numbers don't belong to operators," adding that numbers are a scarce resource and must be used appropriately.

The number portability facility is operational in US, Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Cyprus, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Hong Kong and Malta. Pakistan is also in the process of introducing it.

Even though, internationally, the time taken to port a number could be between two hours to 30 days, it must be done within three days of a subscriber applying for it in India, Trai has said.

Subscribers shifting to another service provider can do so after paying Rs 200 as one-time fee to be borne by the recipient operator. Globally, the porting fee ranges between zero and 40 pounds, averaging at around 8 euros.

However, everything depends on how soon the government takes a decision on the issue.