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Nationwide MNP to be reality in six months

Last Updated 25 September 2013, 20:39 IST

Six months down the line, a mobile customer who moves from one service area to another can retain the same number as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Wednesday recommended nationwide mobile number portability (MNP) facility.

At present, mobile customers can port their numbers only within a service area. With the Trai recommending for nationwide MNP, subscribers in Uttar Pradesh or Andhra Pradesh can port their numbers in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Delhi or in any other circle.

The facility will help customers to retain their number if they shift from one circle to another without opting for a new connection. (For instance, if a person moves from Andhra Pradesh to Karnataka or any other state, he can apply for MNP and retain his number in the new circle). If a subscriber wants to retain the same company along with same number in the new circle, he can also opt for it. 

Telecom companies have six months time to implement the full MNP. However, once a number is shifted to a new circle, another porting will not be allowed for the next three months (90 days) and multiple circle porting is also not permitted.

The facility of pan-India portability will allow a mobile subscriber to change his licence service area (LSA) without having to change the number, the Trai said in a statement.

“Implementation of the full MNP would therefore mean acceptance of a porting request by the recipient operator from a mobile number belonging to any of the LSAs of the country, irrespective of the fact that the LSA from where the subscriber is porting his mobile number and the LSA to which he wants to port his number belong to the same or different MNP zones,” it added.


Earlier this year, the Trai sought comments from stakeholders on the method for implementing full MNP and the amendments required in existing regulations, among various other matters.

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(Published 25 September 2013, 20:39 IST)

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