Uninor, the GSM mobile service brand of Telenor which currently operates in 9 circles, and won back 6 of these 9 circles in the recent spectrum auction has has now openly asked its customers in Kolkata and West Bengal to Port Out from its Network to any other service provider using Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in respective circles.
Uninor currently operates in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh – East and West, Kolkata, West Bengal, Andra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharastra and Mumbai. In the recent auction of 1800MHz airwave Uninor won back just 6 circles and failed to get spectrum and license for Kolkata, Mumbai and West Bengal.
According to Telecor's officail statement " The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India had quashed Uninor’s licenses through its order on February 2, 2012. Uninor will have to stop its operations in the 2 circles of Kolkata and West Bengal on January 19, 2013."
As of now GSM Operations in the Mumbai circle are continuing as Telenor Group evaluates the possibility of participating in the second auction for spectrum in Mumbai indicated by the Indian authorities till the 18th January, 2013.
The company issued a public notice to all its customers in Kolkata and West Bengal requesting them to exhaust their balance by January 18, 2013 and utilise mobile number portability to port out to any other operator of choice.
Uninor operations in twelve other circles where minimal obligatory rollout had been conducted to meet the license conditions will also cease on January 19, 2013 resulting from the same Supreme Court order.
Porting out (MNP Process) simplified for Uninor customers in Kolkata and West Bengal:
In the 2 circles of Kolkata and West Bengal, Uninor has a total subscriber base of 5.6 million. The company has now further strengthened its MNP code generation processes for customers in these circles.Uninor has also dropped the 90-day lock in to allow customers to port-out even if they have taken up a Uninor subscription less than 90 days ago.
Text SMS’es will be sent to all customers in Kolkata and West Bengal, encouraging them to exhaust their balance and port out to an operator of choice. MNP will also be recommended to customers in the 2 circles through
IVRs on all customer service help lines as well.
The company has suspended the supply of any new SIM cards and recharges in Kolkata and West Bengal circles with immediate effect, as per the license guidelines.
Roaming agreement will be signed :
In all circles where Uninor services will no longer be available after January 18, 2013, the company will make a roaming arrangement to ensure that Uninor customers from the circles where services continue will be able to seamlessly use their Uninor connection while travelling to any other state anywhere in India.
