The much awaited Mobile Number Portability (MNP) is finally here. A lot of people were waiting for MNP to become a reality for various reasons, and many people were trying to push the date for MNP further off for various reason of their own.

The Telecom Regulatory authority of India (TRAI) had issued the Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Regulations  as early as  September, 2009. In the regulations, MNP had been defined as the facility which allows a subscriber to retain his mobile telephone number when he moves from one Access Provider to another irrespective of the mobile technology or from one cellular mobile technology to another of the same Access Provider.

On the face of it MNP sounds like every Service Provider’s nightmare, and every consumer’s dream. If you are not satisfied with your service provider, you can simply approach a different service provider and, at the same time, you can keep your old number.

For many people, including me,  it is very hard to change numbers. Sometimes, in order to keep our old number, we will put up with the not-so-good service provided by our service provider. But, now even we have the option of changing our service provider.

So, can anyone apply for MNP?

Any subscriber can apply for MNP as long as 90 days have passed since the activation of the mobile number, or since the activation of the number after the last porting. Also, there should be no outstanding payments against the number to be ported, nor should the number be associated with any kind of court proceedings.

What are the charges payables for MNP?

The ceiling on the porting charge will be Rupees Nineteen for now. So, a service provider can charge a maximum of Rupees Nineteen from the subscriber intending to port a number.

How will MNP work?

The subscriber intending to avail MNP service will have to apply to the service provider, he wants to move to, in writing and in the required format. Once the recipient service provider is satisfied that the subscriber fulfills all the requirements as defined in the TRAI regulations, he will ask the subscriber to  send an SMS to the existing service provider, who will then provide a porting code to the subscriber. The subscriber will then provide this code to the recipient service provider, and if all goes well, then within a maximum period of eighty four hours, you should have moved to the new service provider.

Doesn’t sound too difficult, does it?

MNP will definitely make the Telecom sector even more competitive. At present, the mobile service providers are trying their best to come up with new schemes to lure new subscribers, but they are really not trying their best to satisfy their existing customers. Now that an unsatisfied customer can shift to a different service provider, the companies will have to try very hard to satisfy their existing customers as well, so that they don’t lose them to the competition. Consumer, in other words, has truly become the king in the mobile market.

Now, that you have a choice are you going to change your service provider, or are you going to stick to your old service provider?

(To know more about the MNP Regulations, Orders and Directions you can visit the TRAI website)

(Image courtesy: jetmedia and Yodesigner from sxc.hu)