Change your mobile network with existing SIM
New Delhi: Come January 2010, consumers need to pay only Rs. 19 and change their service provider, even as they retain the same mobile number. In a move that could intensify the stiff competition in the world's fastest-growing telecom market and push call charges ever lower, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said the porting charges for switching one's mobile operator 'cannot be more than Rs. 19.'
Mobile Number Portability (MNP) will be introduced in two phases, the telecoms regulator said, first in the metro cities and the Category A telecom zones and in other areas by March 20. MNP helps in "increasing competition between the service providers and acts as a catalyst for the service providers to improve their quality of service," the TRAI said on its website.
Four new firms including ventures of international telecom operators Telenor, Etisalat and Batelco are set to start services in India this year and MNP would make it easy for them to lure existing subscribers. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had issued guidelines for for its implementation in the country in August last year.
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