Ranchi: Come January and mobile number portability (MNP) would be a reality in Jharkhand and Bihar.
Mobile users will become the real owner of their SIM (subscribers identification module) card, and have the freedom to switch over to any operator without changing having changed their numbers in the Bihar (Jharkhand) telecom circle.
Telecom officials said that MNP would be implemented by January 20—the revised deadline fixed by the Department of Telecom (DoT)—for the circle.
Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal launched the service on November 25 in Haryana circle. Other circles have been given separate deadlines to implement the scheme.
All the mobile operators, including those of the global system for mobile (GSM) and the code divisional multiple access (CDMA), in the circle have carried out acceptance testing (AT) under the supervision of experts roped in by the Telecom Enforcement Resource and Monitoring (Term) cell of the DoT at Patna—the hub center for the circle in case of the MNP.
Bharti Airtel (Bihar) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shishir M Kumar said that Airtel had made its installation ready for seamless porting of the numbers across the operators.
“Like other operators we are waiting for the instruction from the DoT to implement the facility,†Kumar, whose brand possesses the maximum number of mobile subscribers, said. Vodafone CEO Awadhesh Singh also echoed in similarity.
Deputy General Manager, network support system (BSNL, Bihar) Manoj Kumar Bhakta said that last minute modification was being done with different units of the BSNL to see that no issue crops up at the time of porting. Citing the provisions of MNP, he said all numbers whether operating on GSM or CDMA technology could be ported from one operator to another.
The provisions of the MNP envisage porting of any number to another network at a nominal charge of Rs 19. Apart from that, the new mobile operator is expected to charge the cost of a new SIM card with same identification number. BSNL will, however, not be taking any charge for porting process.
Subscribers willing to port their number require filling up the requisite form with the retailer of the new network they want to switch over along with proof of identity and address. The process may take at least a week’s time. In case of the post-paid numbers, the users required clearing all the outstanding of the existing network operators.
Deputy Director General, Term cell, Jharkhand, SN Singh said that the subscribers would have to stay in the ported network for at least 90 days if he/she wanted to migrate to another network. Porting for a new number could be possible after 90 day of the activation.