Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in India

             In Indian cellular communication scenario, the term MNP is becoming more popular. Sticking to Herbert Spencer’s theory on “Survival of the fittest”, the mobile operators will be forced to follow this theory in serving the customers. Either they have to satisfy their customers with the service or lose them to their competitors without any problem to the customers. It could also be termed as, a customer having the option of switching service providers without changing the mobile number.

                      With current scenario, if a customer is dissatisfied on the service by mobile operator either he has to reluctantly accept the service or switch to another service provider that he wishes. In the later case, he has to drop his identity, the mobile number. In most cases when the mobile number is used for all business and family correspondence, it becomes generally impossible to leave the number. To overcome these hardships, the concept of MNP (Mobile Number Portability) was introduced.

History:

The first implementation of MNP starts in late 1990s with Singapore implementing the MNP (limited) functionality in 1997 followed by Hong Kong in 1999, Spain in 2000, Australia in 2001 and list continues to grow.

Basic glossary and terms used in MNP:

Ported out – If a subscriber moves to new service provider, for the old service provider, he is a “ported out” subscriber.

Ported in - If a subscriber moves to new service provider, for the new service provider, he is a “ported in” subscriber.

Donor – The service provider left by the subscriber is termed as “donor”

Recipient – The service provider joined by the subscriber is termed as “recipient”

CDB – Central Database

ACQ – All Call Query

NPDP-Number portability database

Implementataion in India:

DoT has issued mobile number portability details and the first phase will be rolled out in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai by end of 2010. From a consumer standpoint, the entire process of porting a number should not take more than two (2) working days, with a two (2) hour break in service Rs 300 will be charged. More than 90% of Indian mobile users are on prepaid connections and do not have number loyalty (~churn rate of 4% on monthly basis) Operators will add a lot more nuances (for instance, time bound etc) to ensure that switching cost/experience is fairly high (as ARPU is sliding). The service providers are not keen on its introduction as that would require a substantial investment in upgrades to the routing and the billing mechanisms. The cumulative losses for the Indian GSM mobile players would be around Rs 8,000 crore and increased investments could mean more bad debt.

Clearing House:

The Centralized Clearinghouse is a message processing system through which service providers communicate using the same set of rules for handling porting requests and exchanging information required for porting numbers. This centralized clearing house will be managed by third party to avoid conflict of interest.The Number Portability Database will have the mobile numbers of all mobile users. All mobile service providers will then link their networks with that of the MCHAs (Mobile Number Portability Clearing House Administrator) and NPDB (National Portability Database).

Role of Clearing House:

National Number Portability Clearing House a regulatory body responsible for managing port-in/out numbers across the operators in India. It maintains a database with Port-In/Out information across the country / operators. It also maintains historical trail of porting for audit trail. This database is pushed / pulled into ‘Reference Database’ also called ‘Routing Database’ which will assist network elements (MSC) to direct each call to their respective telecom operator (servicing that number).

MNP Process:

Subscriber contacts new operators and asks his number to be ported New operator submits number port request to clearing house New operator will charge 75-200 rupees porting charge. The clearing house informs the old operator Clearing house informs all operators that the number is ported Number Portability Database will have all mobile numbers.

Mobile Number Portability Clearing House Administrator (MCHA) in India:

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has chosen two providers –Syniverse Technologies and Telcordia Technologies for the implementing MNP.

Both the companies will provide solutions for 11 circles each of the total 22 circles in the country.

Syniverse:-North & West.

Telcordia:-South & East.

Conclusion of Call Routing:

The Direct routing solution / All Call Query is perceived as a long-term solution for number portability whereas Call Forwarding solution was adopted initially when the estimated number of porting are less.

The key advantage of Direct Routing (or All Call Query) is that it does not increase network congestion between originating operator and the donor operator as the ported calls are directly routed to recipient network. This method eliminates dependence on the donor network operator, thereby providing the ability to maintain portability in the event of donor network operator’s failure or exit from business. Therefore, direct routing is considered as more optimized with more efficient call routing.