Shortly before
the operators had to set out to poach subscribers, they realized that their jaws
weren't as strong as was needed. Yet again, the mobile subscribers in the
country will have to wait for mobile number portability (MNP), a service they
were looking forward to be implemented by the year-end. Interestingly, the
reason is the same as last year-public sector operators, MTNL and BSNL, have
expressed their inability to implement the portability services. The more
confident operators, eager to pull subscribers to their network, will have to
hold their fire.
Hold, before you curse the two for being
deterrents in the way of a service that will give consumers the freedom of
switching their mobile network while retaining the number. Industry sources say,
leave alone the two operators, the MNP service providers selected to enable the
porting do not have the basic things in place.
The delay was bound to happen. In an
interview to VOICE&DATA earlier this year, Sanjay Kasturia, head, Syniverse,
India Operations had pointed at the short timeframe to implement MNP in India as
a major challenge. "As per the DoT, MNP has to be rolled out in metro cities and
category-A service areas in six months from the time the license is awarded, and
the remaining areas in the subsequent six months. That's a major challenge.
Also, mobile service providers will have to upgrade their infrastructures to
enable appropriate re-routing of calls to subscribers who have ported out of
their network. The manner of handling such routing and data management is
critical as any inefficiency will directly lead to inefficiency in transmission
and switching capacity," he had said.
Certain critical questions remain
unanswered. Why was the DoT in such a haste to usher in the MNP regime? Did the
two selected MNP service providers not share their overseas experience with the
authorities? Most of the countries that have successfully implemented MNP had to
postpone its launch. Thus, it will be difficult to identify who is to be held
responsible for this.
"MTNL has expressed its concerns to the
DoT. But who is ready? Even the MNP service providers are not prepared. They had
to create a comprehensive data bank and connect to every operator before they
could test the system they have not done that yet," says Kuldip Singh, director
(Technical), MTNL.
Declining to comment on other operators'
readiness, Singh says if this is the status of MNP service providers, then the
service cannot be implemented till another three to six months as most of the
operators, including us, are still getting the equipment ready and upgrading
their billing systems. "The setup has to be tested not only internally at the
individual operator's end, but we also need to test it with other operators," he
says.
Telcordia Technologies' Interconnection
Telecom Solutions India, which is one of the vendors appointed by the DoT to
manage MNP in India, claims that the systems are ready at its end.
Mark Greenquist, president & CEO,
Telcordia says, "We are prepared, but since the process is so elaborate that to
be able to manage about twelve operators at a time can be a bit complex and
delay is obvious."
However, there is nothing that the service
provider wants to disclose that will explain its capability to implement the
service. Syniverse does not want to say anything either. Initially, the combined
investment in the first phase by MNP Interconnection Telecom and Syniverse
Technologies was estimated to be $20 mn for installing and managing number
portability clearing house and centralized data center.
"It is not India alone where MNP is being
delayed, speaking from my experience from other countries, Technically and
process wise impediments are normal," Greenquist says.
An Arduous Process?
So, what is MNP all about? Is it a great technology issue or a process
challenge? Industry veterans do not see any major technical block as porting
technology is a tested technology and others are already using it. It is an
investment intensive technology, the networks need to be integrated.
Tom Kershaw, VP, Interconnection
Solutions, Telcordia says, "We believe the biggest process change will be in the
storefronts, where the majority of subscribers will go to initiate a number
port. Mobile stores are currently set up to process top-offs, sell new phones
and SIMs, and to handle accessories. Adding a port application and interfacing
to centralized carrier systems will be a change for storefront employees, and
solid training and processes will be essential. The processes for subscriber
notification, billing, and marketing will also be ctirical."
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"To complete the porting process, the
subscriber's mobile number and the recipient's network ID are paired and updated
in a master centralized database. This master or centralized database is kept
current by MNP service providers. Each operator also is able to have its own
local database for real-time queries to route calls to the correct operator of
the ported number," explains Kasturia.
"This porting process also must be tightly
integrated with each operator's own back office billing/prepaid charging and
customer care systems and some operators are still using legacy systems," he
adds.
The Trai has clearly defined the business
processes and rules for porting in India. Initially, it may take certain amount
of time in terms of making the common subscriber understand the process of MNP.
A close coordination among operators and MNP clearing house (with the government
supervision) would be required, especially in the initial stages of rolling out
the MNP.
The porting charge will play a key role in
the success of the service. Telcordia, however, is not comfortable with the
porting charge fixed at Rs 19. "We have serious concerns about the porting
charge and have expressed those concerns to Trai. The impact of the rate, as
well as numerous other factors, on the number of ports remains to be seen, and
in all likelihood the industry will need to adjust once empirical data is in
place," says Kershaw. If the porting charge is to be reconsidered it will
require more time, implying more delay. The latest spin in the MNP story is the
fact that Telcordia has hit the Home Ministry's radar over its minority
shareholders being only a front as alleged by the Home Ministry having no
experience in managing telecom operations. The experts say the experience is not
a big concern.
"The Indian regulations require that any
company rolling out a telecom network in the country needs to have at least 26%
stake of a local domestic player, but it does not talk about the experience,"
says Satyen Gupta, chief regulatory advisor, BT Global Services, SAARC region.
A bigger concern for both the government
and Telcordia that did not emerge when licenses were issued, is the MNP service
provider's operations in Pakistan. So, there is more delay impending for MNP to
get real for India.
Heena Jhingan
heenaj@cybermedia.co.in