New Delhi: Mobile users will be able to retain their numbers
across the country with all operators gearing to launch the full Mobile Number
Portability (MNP) service on Friday to meet a deadline set by the government.
All operators, including
Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Reliance Communications, as also state-run MTNL and
BSNL, on Thursday announced they would be rolling out the full MNP from
tomorrow to enable their customers to retain their mobile numbers even if they
shift base to a new place.
The national MNP service, the earlier deadline for which was May
3 but got extended by two months as operators were not ready, will also
facilitate the users to choose the operator of their choice without changing
their numbers.
Among other private players, Uninor, Sistema Shyam Teleservices
and Videocon also said they will roll out the service to meet the July 3
deadline fixed by the government.
In a statement, Airtel said its customers can also enjoy special
offers like processing requests to port within Airtel’s network within 24 hours
and free incoming on roaming until the portability request is processed.
Vodafone said, “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,”
Vodafone India Chief Commercial Officer Vivek Mathur said.
Idea Cellular said it has enabled its network to roll out the
DoT mandated national MNP services for mobile users across the country.
“Idea has been the MNP leader with over 14 million net gain of
customers so far, through intra circle MNP services.
The company is now ready to enable national MNP by allowing its
own users to retain their numbers even if they move out of a circle and also
take on new customers who wish to switch to Idea network from their current
service provider,” Idea said.
Reliance Communications also said it is ready to roll out MNP
nationally from July 3 onwards. It also plans to offer “attractive and
aggressive plans” to retain customers. The number of mobile users in the
country was 97.33 crore at the end of April.
PTI