At the end of April 2015, 973 million people in India were using mobile phones and MNP requests crossed 150 million. Service providers, Vodafone and Airtel declared that National Mobile Number Portability (NMNP) will be launched from today, NMNP which will let customers use the same numbers if they migrate from one state to another in India and they change their service provider. In short, users can change their service provider yet having the same number. Both prepaid and postpaid users qualify to avail this facility.
(TRAI) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had earlier issued a deadline of May 3 for NMNP, they later extended the deadline to July 3, 2015. All service providers i.e. Vodafone, Airtel, Idea, and Reliance along with government’s BSNL will cover NMNP, thus letting users to keep the same mobile numbers even if they shift to a new location. Users can also choose their mobile operator, without changing mobile number.
Talking about other private service operators, Videocon, Uninor and Shyam Teleservices have also declared that they will release this service.
Users will now be allowed to port to Airtel and activate their number in just 24 hours and more offers, as per Airtel’s claims. They will also not charge on incoming calls on roaming network while the number portability request is processed. Airtel users will also be permitted to carry forward balance in another city and also billed or unbilled amount if they move on to another city and port.
Vodafone’s Chief Commercial Officer Vivek Mathur told the press “Customers looking for the convenience of retaining their existing number at the new location can avail the benefits of national MNP service. Vodafone has benefited from the intra-circle MNP that was rolled out in 2011 and we look forward to a similar response this time.” Also Idea, the leader of MNP services and Reliance are ready with the NMNP service, with exciting plans and offers.
