Full mobile number portability (MNP) service will not be available nationwide anytime soon. The department of telecom (DoT) has not accepted the recommendation for nationwide MNP by sector regulator, said the secretary of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Rajeev Agrawal. In September 2013, Trai had circulated an order to mobile phone companies the implementation of full MNP in six months period.

Earlier DoT had asked Trai for a reconsideration on some changes in licence norms suggested by the telecom regulator. On Wednesday, Agrawal stated that DoT has not responded to Trai and once  recommendations are accepted by DoT a period of six months would be needed to operationalize full MNP.

The provision of MNP has the advantage of allowing users to retain their mobile number whenever they change the service provider, but it's applicable only within a circle. Full MNP has the advantage of allowing subscribers to continue with the same numbers even when they move to another circle.

(Picture Source: thehindu.com)

(AW: Pratima Tigga)