Mobile Number Portability allows the user to retain their old mobile number and can change the mobile service provider. This technology was suppose to be launch 2 years back, but it got delayed for various reasons accounting to Security and Political Issue. Also, 2G scandal hit the sector which led to the quitting of then Telecom Minister A.Raja.
Kapil Sibal is now appointed as the Telecom Minister, and has started working to get in new telecom policies leading to intense competition in telecom sector and thus benefitting the consumers.
Now, getting back to MNP,
this service will be launched PAN India in the last week of January, 2011. The conditions are you can port your landline number, and changing the operator is currently available inter circle. i.e Mumbai circle subscriber having a Vodafone mobile number can change only to a Mumbai Circle Idea number or any other operator.
The change can be from a CDMA technology to GSM and vice versa.
MNP is said to be a serious game changer, the top three telecom companies Airtel, Reliance and Vodafone are said to be worst effected, as it has the high end users as thier customer who could not change their number thus could not change operator, but after MNP they no more have to be hooked to them.
Various campaign has been started by the telecom companies like Idea which started 'Get Idea' campaign, also Vodafone started 'Everbody's Welcome' campaign.
Subsequently, the operators have launched their Toll Free numbers so that other service provider's subscribers can call them and register themselves to switch to the New operator.
Let's wait and watch, the major changes happening in telecom space.
