Trai Chairman Explains Why Mobile Number Portability Rules Were Changed

Follow Us

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is the one responsible for bringing reeling changes in the telecom industry and ensuring that the interests of the consumers remain a top priority in the sector. As such, the regulator has recently brought some changes into the industry which have to do with the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) regulations. These changes significantly change the MNP process and reduce the time that was required to switch from one operator to another operator. The new MNP rules have definitely been appreciated by the consumers, and for the most part, the biggest advantage for the consumers is that they have to wait very less to change their operator. However, in a new talk with ETTelecom, Trai chairman RS Sharma has explained why the MNP rules were changed and what are some of the other implications of the new rules that have been brought in its wake. The Trai chairman also expressed his views on the unbundled licensing regime too.

trai-chairman-mnp-rules-explained




Mobile Number Portability New Rules

When asked, why the MNP regime was changed in the Indian telecom industry, Trai chairman, RS Sharma remarked that when the subscriber had to port from one operator to another operator, they had to go their current operator from which they want to port out of. When the subscribers went to their operator, they wanted to retain their customer and hence rejected their MNP request on the basis of non-payment of bills. As such, the power of releasing the customer was in the hands of the telecom operators, which led to a conflict of interest in some cases. The Unique Porting Code (UPC) which was required by the port-in telecom operator (operator to which the subscribers want to port) was also generated by the current telecom operator of the subscribers.

Role of MNP Service Provider

Now, the process has been changed, and the power of handing out the UPC does not lie with the telecom operator. With the new process, the subscriber can directly go to the telecom operator to which he or she wants to their SIM. This telecom operator will then file a request to the MNP service provider, who will then check with the previous telecom operator for any pending bill payments or dues, and if there are no such dues from the subscriber, then the operator will be able to port-in with the UPC which the MNP service provider provides.

Previously, in the MNP process, both the telecom operators were involved, and both of these telcos wanted to keep the subscriber on their network, and hence there was a tussle, and the operator did not want the customer to let go. But, now the power remains with the MNP provider, which is a neutral party in the transaction. The deadline for the generation of UPC and porting has been set at three days by Trai, which ensures that the subscribers will be able to port quickly.

Unbundled Licensing Regime

The Trai chairman also shared his views on the unbundled licensing regime. Under this, the four services which are handled by telecom operators including towers and fibre; underlying network; service layers; and an application layer, each will be done by a different player. Trai has also floated a consultation paper on the same currently. As per the Trai chairman, such a set up would allow the operators to save on their capital expenditure as well, as they would only have to pay rent.

Reported By

Reporter

Arpit spends his day closely following the telecom and tech industry. A music connoisseur and a night owl, he also takes a deep interest in the Indian technology start-up scene and spends rest of his time spilling poetry and stories on paper.

Recent Comments

TheAndroidFreak :

Redmi K80 Pro Redmi K80Coming to global market for sure.

OnePlus 13 and Xiaomi 15 to Feature Qualcomm Snapdragon 8…

Aniruddha Dhar :

That's why I took a spare new sim of BSNL to test the network before deciding whether it is a…

BSNL’s 4G Towers Nearing Launch in Adilabad, Telangana: Report

SCKPA :

That's the mistake I have done porting in to bsnl. During puja I had to stay most of the time…

BSNL’s 4G Towers Nearing Launch in Adilabad, Telangana: Report

Aniruddha Dhar :

Frankly speaking BSNL is not usable as primary number till now. You can use as secondary that's not a problem.

BSNL’s 4G Towers Nearing Launch in Adilabad, Telangana: Report

TheAndroidFreak :

December 5 Indian launch 55-60K after discounts

OnePlus 13 and Xiaomi 15 to Feature Qualcomm Snapdragon 8…

Load More
Subscribe
Notify of
2 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments