Here comes the Mobile Number Portability !

This post was published long ago, when I was an amateur blogger. The links might be outdated and content may not be useful anymore. Please read this content keeping its age in mind.

This will be a new dawn for the mobile subscribers of India, as the Mobile number portability will be operational across India from January 20th, 2011. There might be some problems in the first few days. Kindly note that all the balance if any in the prepaid account will lapse once you port the number.

With the arrival of MNP you can switch to different operators of your choice from your existing CDMA to GSM, GSM to CDMA, CDMA to CDMA and also from GSM to GSM.

Telecom consulting firm data suggests a reasonably high subscriber churn after the launch of MNP of as much as 17 per cent in the prepaid and 19 per cent in the postpaid segment.

If you are not happy with your current Mobile Phone operator because of Billing Issues, Signal Problems, Call Drops or any other issues you don’t have to worry now because the TRAI [Telecom Regulatory Authority of India] has now offered a new scheme under which you can switch your operator at a cost of just 19Rs.

There are special offers being provided from operators to attract new customers to their network. Here are a few offers by leading mobile operators in India

BSNL:
BSNL is offering Free Bonus talk time of Rs. 100 on FRC and Unlimited Free GPRS (for period of 30 days) to new customer. In addition BSNL has waived off the mnp charge of Rs.19 too !

!dea:
Idea cellular has launched a dedicated MNP Pack which costs Rs. 37 in all which includes Rs. 19 towards the MNP Porting charges and also the Sim cost. Apart from providing features like CLIP, Call Wait-Call Hold, Call Divert, SMS, Pre activated National / International Roaming, Voice Mail on Request, Multimedia Messaging, GPRS along with a talk time of Rs.5, this tariff will be applicable for a period of 365 days.

Tata Docomo:
Ranging from Full and extra talk time offers to various 3G Recharge options, TATA DOCOMO is currently trying everything to acquire new customers.

Steps to move your mobile number to other provider

1.To begin with, you need to generate UPC (Unique Porting Code) by sending SMS to 1900. UPC is an alphanumeric code allocated, upon request, by a mobile operator to its subscriber for the purpose of facilitation of porting of his/her mobile number to another operator.

• SMS to be sent : PORT <your Mobile Number> to 1900. Operator SMS charges will be applicable.

• Eg. SMS PORT 98XXXXXXXX to 1900

2.After sending SMS to 1900, you will receive UPC (Unique Porting Code) as a SMS from 1901 giving 8 digit alpha-numeric Unique Porting Code (UPC) and UPC expiry date in MM/DD/YYYY format

3.Visit your nearest NEW Service provider outlet / showroom

4.Fill NEW Service provider Mobile Number Porting (MNP) form providing details like

• Current Mobile Number

• Current Operator name

• UPC code

5.Submit Address & Id proof documents, self-attested photo and last bill copy of postpaid connection (if applicable) along-with filled MNP form and Customer Agreement Form.

6.Buy the NEW Service provider MNP SIM card from NEW Service provider outlet / showroom. SIM charges, talktime value and porting charge are non-refundable in the event of cancellation / rejection of port-in request.

7.NEW Service provider will send an SMS on your old/existing operator’s SIM (existing connection) intimating about the porting date and time, i.e. the date and approximate time till when you can continue to use your existing operator’s SIM card.

8.There will be a 2-hour ‘no service period’ which will begin after the porting time as given above. The ‘no service period’ will be between 12 midnight to 5 am during which your mobile service will not be active on any SIM. All efforts will be made to ensure that this ‘no service period’ causes minimum inconvenience to you.

9.After the ‘no service period’, you can replace your existing operator’s SIM card with the new NEW Service provider SIM card in your handset.

Once your NEW Service provider SIM card is activated you would be ready to enjoy NEW Service provider’s high-quality network, innovative value added services and best-in class customer service using your existing mobile number.

Credits:
AllAboutBelgaum.com
AmitBhawani.com

If you have any further queries regarding MNP, you could comment them below.

Do you plan to change your service provider? If yes whats your current one which one would you opt for?

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