ET Bureau Telcordia Technologies has been given the LoI (letter of intent) to implement mobile number portability in eastern and southern states. Telcordia president & CEO Mark Greenquist discusses advantages of the number portability policy.
Give us a sense of Telcordia���s presence in India and its preparedness in the run up to kicking off mobile number portability services in India.
Telcordia has been given the LoI to implement mobile number portability in eastern and southern states. The company has undertaken number portability deployments over the past 15 years, serving over 600 million mobile subscribers and nearly 600 mobile and fixed operators across 15 countries.
Telcordia today serves the expanding Indian telecom market through Telcordia Technologies India, established in 2006 to provide dedicated local resources for mobile, fixedline, and cable operators throughout the country. It is headquartered in Gurgaon, with programme delivery offices in Hyderabad. It also includes Telcordia India Labs, a state-of-the-art facility based in Chennai, which provides dedicated software resources, including development, for mobile, fixed line and cable operators throughout India. Telcordia has been working with leading CSPs including Telcordia Tata, Idea Cellular and Reliance. It also works with DoT and Trai.
Once Telcordia kicks off operations, will it be possible to port a Kolkata mobile number to a Mumbai mobile network and vice versa?
DoT has envisaged mobile number portability (MNP) within a ���circle��� or a ���metro��� only. Accordingly, consumers can port within Kolkata or within Mumbai metros and not between the metros. Since MNP will remain within a circle or a metro, consumers can port their telephone number from one mobile service provider to another within their circle or metro. Pan-India MNP is not being implemented now.
Once number portability is introduced nationally in India, will it be possible to port a number from a fixedline to a mobile network?
DoT is implementing MNP only. So only mobile-to-mobile portability is envisaged at this point.
What has been Telcordia���s experience in the number portability realm in other countries? What has been the percentage of churn after number portability was introduced in those markets ?
Number portability does not foster higher churn rates. Consumers will switch telephone providers in search of better prices or advanced services. The ability to keep their phone number is an added convenience for consumers. Studies have shown that only a small percentage of customers actually port. In the US, the churn rate is 14.7% and the port rate is 5.4%. While in Germany, the churn rate is 20% and the port rate, 0.4%.
Is number portability relevant in the Indian telecom market where 95% to 98% of the mobile users are prepaid users?
Regardless of whether a person is a mobile postpaid or prepaid user, number portability is a good policy for India as it gives consumers the choice and convenience of keeping their telephone number.
Will a GSM phone user in India be able to retain his 10-digit number if he chooses to migrate to a CDMA service provider?
Yes, the subscriber will be able to retain his 10-digit phone number regardless of service provider types because mobile number portability is transparent when it comes to technology. However, if the subscriber���s phone number is ported, he/she may need a new handset.
What will be the cost to the consumer for porting his number to another service provider?
The costs of porting for the consumer will be determined by Trai. That has not been decided as yet.
What do mobile operators need to do to offer MNP services ?
Operators should spend time preparing for the rollout of number portability. Their readiness has been the principal cause of delay in MNP in some countries. Three principal areas to pay attention would be the interface to the Clearinghouse, the impacts on the provisioning systems and the update to the network elements.
In our case, operators can achieve their readiness with the Telcordia Number Portability gateway system, which is the leader in this space and deployed worldwide.
Give us a sense of Telcordia���s presence in India and its preparedness in the run up to kicking off mobile number portability services in India.
Telcordia has been given the LoI to implement mobile number portability in eastern and southern states. The company has undertaken number portability deployments over the past 15 years, serving over 600 million mobile subscribers and nearly 600 mobile and fixed operators across 15 countries.
Telcordia today serves the expanding Indian telecom market through Telcordia Technologies India, established in 2006 to provide dedicated local resources for mobile, fixedline, and cable operators throughout the country. It is headquartered in Gurgaon, with programme delivery offices in Hyderabad. It also includes Telcordia India Labs, a state-of-the-art facility based in Chennai, which provides dedicated software resources, including development, for mobile, fixed line and cable operators throughout India. Telcordia has been working with leading CSPs including Telcordia Tata, Idea Cellular and Reliance. It also works with DoT and Trai.
Once Telcordia kicks off operations, will it be possible to port a Kolkata mobile number to a Mumbai mobile network and vice versa?
DoT has envisaged mobile number portability (MNP) within a ���circle��� or a ���metro��� only. Accordingly, consumers can port within Kolkata or within Mumbai metros and not between the metros. Since MNP will remain within a circle or a metro, consumers can port their telephone number from one mobile service provider to another within their circle or metro. Pan-India MNP is not being implemented now.
Once number portability is introduced nationally in India, will it be possible to port a number from a fixedline to a mobile network?
DoT is implementing MNP only. So only mobile-to-mobile portability is envisaged at this point.
What has been Telcordia���s experience in the number portability realm in other countries? What has been the percentage of churn after number portability was introduced in those markets ?
Number portability does not foster higher churn rates. Consumers will switch telephone providers in search of better prices or advanced services. The ability to keep their phone number is an added convenience for consumers. Studies have shown that only a small percentage of customers actually port. In the US, the churn rate is 14.7% and the port rate is 5.4%. While in Germany, the churn rate is 20% and the port rate, 0.4%.
Is number portability relevant in the Indian telecom market where 95% to 98% of the mobile users are prepaid users?
Regardless of whether a person is a mobile postpaid or prepaid user, number portability is a good policy for India as it gives consumers the choice and convenience of keeping their telephone number.
Will a GSM phone user in India be able to retain his 10-digit number if he chooses to migrate to a CDMA service provider?
Yes, the subscriber will be able to retain his 10-digit phone number regardless of service provider types because mobile number portability is transparent when it comes to technology. However, if the subscriber���s phone number is ported, he/she may need a new handset.
What will be the cost to the consumer for porting his number to another service provider?
The costs of porting for the consumer will be determined by Trai. That has not been decided as yet.
What do mobile operators need to do to offer MNP services ?
Operators should spend time preparing for the rollout of number portability. Their readiness has been the principal cause of delay in MNP in some countries. Three principal areas to pay attention would be the interface to the Clearinghouse, the impacts on the provisioning systems and the update to the network elements.
In our case, operators can achieve their readiness with the Telcordia Number Portability gateway system, which is the leader in this space and deployed worldwide.
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