19 January,2011 07:26 AM IST | | Bobby Anthony
Telecom service providers banking on popularity of mobile number portability after u00a0its success in the state it was first introduced
Mobile phone users will soon be smiling their way to the much-awaited Mobile Number Portability (MNP) scheduled to make its advent into Mumbai on January 20, 2011.
According to industry sources, telecom service providers in Mumbai have completed technical formalities in order to implement the service and appear poised to market themselves extensively in efforts to reel in a larger customer base.
However, at the same time, they remain tightlipped about the number of customers who have applied to switch to other service providers so far, because of something called "the Haryana factor".
It was earlier claimed that MNP was unlikely to have much impact among postpaid customers, but according to telecom sources, Haryana has proved that customers on the whole, are experimental and are likelyu00a0 to switch providers extensively.
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This also appears to be one reason why no telecom operator is prepared to divulge how many customers have applied to switch service providers.
Portability promises
Vodafone has kicked off its ad campaign 'Everybody's welcome' to draw in customers, claiming "better network" as a selling point, while Idea has launched a helpline to update users on various aspects and procedures related to MNP.
Idea has also launched an advertising campaign to inform users about the helpline, after its previous campaign, during which it attempted to highlight advantages it had over other providers.
"MNP will empower the over 700 million mobile consumers in India to exercise choice," said Anupama Ahluwalia, senior vice president, marketing, Idea Cellular, in an official statement.
Other telecom service providers like Tata Indicom have also stated that they are poised to implement MNP.
"We have gone through the paces with, both our CDMA and GSM services, and are ready," said Rajeev Narayan, official spokesperson for Tata Teleservices.
Interestingly, the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) has even waived its network change fee in a bid to outdo rivals and attract high-paying telecom once the service is launched.
"We will also offer incentives to people who want to use our network," said MTNL's managing director, Kuldip Singh, without mentioning what the incentives would be.
Reliance Communica-tions is also preparing to use MNP to garner a larger customer base, according to its official spokesperson. However, the company has not mentioned any specific plans for Mumbai.
Bharti Airtel and other operators like Etisalat and Uninor have not been forthcoming with announce- ments of plans as yet.
"Idea is likely to gain customers from Bharti Airtel, whose network is relatively congested and it will take a while before significant developments are seen," said Naveen Kulkarni, telecom analyst with MF Global Securities.
In Haryana
Industry sources updated MiD DAY with the latest figures from Haryana as compared to thesis made by a section of the media, claiming that MNP would not bring any significant change.
Present subscriber base is 19 million
1,40,000 porting requests made
50,000 porting requests rejected
