TRAI says mobile number portability by Oct.31

New Delhi, Aug.12 (ANI): Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman J.S. Sarma on Thursday announced that citizens of the country would have access to mobile number portability (MNP) from October 31.

"There will be no further delay in the implementation of MNP," Sarma said.

MNP is a service that allows a mobile user to change his operator while retaining the number.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) said operators must ensure that all inter-operator tests for porting the numbers from one service provider to another are completed before September 1, 2010, and in case they fail to meet this deadline, they will be barred from launching any new commercial services from September 1.

The announcement comes as key mobile service providers -- Bharti Airtel, Reliance, Vodafone Essar, Tata Tele, Idea, STel and Aircel-are getting ready to launch high-speed 3G services from next month.

State-owned telcos Bharat Sanchar Nagar Nigam and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited have said they are ready with the infrastructure to implement the MNP service.

The MNP was to be implemented by December 31, 2009 in all metros and in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The deadline was forwarded to March 31, 2010 and then to June 30, 2010. (ANI)