Mobile Number Portability (MNP) likely to be delayed :(

[gautham82]

November 28, 2009

The implementation of mobile number portability (MNP) is likely to be delayed by one to three months, with operators still not fully prepared to meet the deadline and with the government imposing new requirements with respect to security.

MNP will be introduced on December 31 in the metros and by March 2010 in the rest of the telecom circles.

The service will allow mobile subscribers to change their service providers
while retaining their old number, by paying a maximum fee of just Rs 19 for each such shift.

The whole process will take four days.

“We are trying our best to meet the deadline. But it looks like, in addition to private operators, even the state-owned operators might take more time. So, there could be a delay of up to three months,†a top executive of a leading Indian mobile operator said.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has come up with some new conditions for all mobile service providers, including a query on whether a subscriber’s telecom connection can be marked for legal interception even before his number is activated on the new network.

This is likely to delay the process as operators are not ready for such a mechanism.

MNP is expected to help in increasing competition between service providers, besides acting as a catalyst for the providers to improve their quality of service.

Source : MNP likely to be delayed

 

[RadioHeAd]

^^ havin the option of MNP should be more of a welcome than complain bout the delay.. i mean a few months ago MNP wasn visible in the distant horizon too.. its surely a gr8 move to implement it. Like to see some competition. i mean i am still paying 1re. for a SMS on Vodafone whereas the actual cost for an operator is less than 1ps. :no::no:

 

[Renegade]

I wouldn't be surprised if it gets delayed even more. There are several things which have not been thought out throughly to arrive at a proper time duration required to implement.

I mean i am still paying 1re. for a SMS on Vodafone whereas the actual cost for an operator is less than 1ps. :no::no:

How did you arrive at that figure? I am curious how do people make baseless statements and pull figures out of their..

 

[axeman]

I wouldn't be surprised if it gets delayed even more. There are several things which have not been thought out throughly to arrive at a proper time duration required to implement.

How did you arrive at that figure? I am curious how do people make baseless statements and pull figures out of their..

Lets pull the figure from:

1. SMS tariff: Activists, MPs tell Trai to take action - India Business - Biz - The Times of India

2. SMS to turn cheap as price war looms: India Today - Latest Breaking News from India, World, Business, Cricket, Sports, Bollywood.

3. http://www.trai.gov.in/trai/upload/Directives/89/SMS Final Decision.pdf

 

[RadioHeAd]

^^ Thanks Axeman for the links and proving my point. Saved me some trouble there. :hap2:

I wouldn't be surprised if it gets delayed even more. There are several things which have not been thought out throughly to arrive at a proper time duration required to implement.
How did you arrive at that figure? I am curious how do people make baseless statements and pull figures out of their..

sorry Renegade but i guess atleast occassionally you should have a look at the newspapers. Keeps you updated on how every citizen is fooled but still wouldn wan to raise their voice unless the media helps.

 

[Renegade]

:rofl: Mr. wise news reader, please pay attention to your words and what you read in the news.

I mean i am still paying 1re. for a SMS on Vodafone whereas the actual cost for an operator is less than 1ps.

revealing that the cost of terminating SMS's on a network is a fraction of a paise

The cost of SMS and cost of termination are two different things. Cost of termination will be a subset of cost of SMS. Termination cost is not the only expense that an operator will bear to carry your SMS from one cell to another.

EDIT - Also before you point me to the point 6 and 7 of that TRAI document, dated 2006. Please read the following as well.

New operators offering free monthly SMSs to new subscribers were also choking the system since the bulk of the 500 million customers lay with incumbent operators.

To combat the problem of choking networks Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom company by number of subscribers, recently started charging 10 paisa for each SMS as termination charges and is tying up deals with operators. Many other service providers may do the same.

"We are seeing a new trend of companies offering huge amounts of SMSs free to customers or picking up bulk SMSs, which is merely choking our networks. We think there has to be some termination charge to discourage such offers," says the CEO of a large telecom operator.

 

[thetoxicmind]

^^ havin the option of MNP should be more of a welcome than complain bout the delay.. i mean a few months ago MNP wasn visible in the distant horizon too.. its surely a gr8 move to implement it. Like to see some competition. i mean i am still paying 1re. for a SMS on Vodafone whereas the actual cost for an operator is less than 1ps. :no::no:

Huh? It's 5P/SMS for me.

 

[axeman]

Yes, You got the points I was pointing out. Was just too sozzled to do it myself.

Now we all have a better idea of the real cost of an sms, and wont make haywire claims.

As for MNP, I got fed up waiting, hence:

1. Loop
2. Loop
3. Vodaphone
4. Idea
5. Reliance

With MNP, I would just change #2 to Airtel for kicks, and see if it makes a difference. If not #2 / #1 will keep travelling to other operators as they launch, e.g. Etisalat.

Why so many phones?
Loop2 & Idea have free calling CUG for family - mine & wife's side.
Rest is for 'work' purposes.
Work & Wife, thats what we can all live for

Cheers!

Mr. wise news reader, please pay attention to your words and what you read in the news.

Quote:
I mean i am still paying 1re. for a SMS on Vodafone whereas the actual cost for an operator is less than 1ps.
Quote:
revealing that the cost of terminating SMS's on a network is a fraction of a paise
The cost of SMS and cost of termination are two different things. Cost of termination will be a subset of cost of SMS. Termination cost is not the only expense that an operator will bear to carry your SMS from one cell to another.

EDIT - Also before you point me to the point 6 and 7 of that TRAI document, dated 2006. Please read the following as well.

Quote:
New operators offering free monthly SMSs to new subscribers were also choking the system since the bulk of the 500 million customers lay with incumbent operators.
To combat the problem of choking networks Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom company by number of subscribers, recently started charging 10 paisa for each SMS as termination charges and is tying up deals with operators. Many other service providers may do the same.
"We are seeing a new trend of companies offering huge amounts of SMSs free to customers or picking up bulk SMSs, which is merely choking our networks. We think there has to be some termination charge to discourage such offers," says the CEO of a large telecom operator.

 

[RadioHeAd]

:rofl: Mr. wise news reader, please pay attention to your words and what you read in the news.

Ok Mr. Know It All, Leme prove it to you that i have paid attention to every word written and read.

SMS charges set to hit rock bottom - Telecom-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

:rofl: The cost of SMS and cost of termination are two different things. Cost of termination will be a subset of cost of SMS. Termination cost is not the only expense that an operator will bear to carry your SMS from one cell to another.

I agree it is not the only expense bourne by an operator. but even with all the expenses considered the telcos really are charging an exorbitant rate and before you end up sayin its just anothr baseless comment , consider this :

Well, a 160-character SMS has a size of around 1kb, while a voice call is around 16kb per second. Today, with voice calls priced at 1 paisa a second, this means that instead of the current 50 paise to a rupee, SMS tariffs should be a fraction of 1 paisa, and the IUC (Interconnect User Charge) on them even less.
and yes before you go around pulling up flaws in the details i have presented, leme tell you the fact of the matter for me remains that a 1 re or even 50p charge on a local SMS (with no value added packs On) is unjustified when the profit margin here is considered.