Telecom Commission clears full MNP decision

The Telecom Commission Wednesday cleared the decision for full mobile number portability (MNP) as recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), according to sources.

This will help subscribers to retain their mobile numbers even if they relocate to places outside the service providers areas.

The number of subscribers who have availed MNP has reached the 100 million-mark, the TRAI said May 29. MNP was introduced Jan 20, 2011 in the country allowing mobile phone users to retain their mobile number even when moving from one service provider to another in the same service area irrespective of the mobile technology.

The decision by the Telecom Commission will be laid before Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad for the final go ahead.

The decision to implement full MNP is likely to be implemented by March 31, 2015.

According to TRAI, MNP requests in August 2014 was from 2.83 million subscribers. With this, the cumulative MNP requests increased from 126.72 million at the end of July to 129.56 million at the end of August, the report said.