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TRAI surveyed that 30 percent of mobile subscribers are likely to shift to an operator offering better services, if they are given an option. Does the Indian subscriber have any such kind of an option? Yes. The option is in the form of Number Portability.
It allows a subscriber to change telecom operators, even as they retain their numbers. Number portability can provide many benefits to the telecom industry, service providers and to the customers if it is implemented in a proper manner. But for implementation in India, a large number of technical, operational and economic issues are needed to be dealt with.

The Indian telecom market has grown considerably because of the positive steps taken by the Government, TRAI and also due to the aggressive efforts and cooperation of service providers. This has led to exponential growth and fundamental reforms in India's telecom sector. Though, tele-density in India is low when compared to other countries which have implemented number portability, but the size and growth rate says a lot for the readiness and eagerness of the market to implement number portability.

What is Number Portability?

Number Portability enables a subscriber to switch between services, locations or operators while retaining the original telephone number. This is done without compromising on quality, reliability and operational convenience. The process of number portability began in 1986, when Telcordia invented, developed and deployed the world's first operator independent number portability application. Under this revolutionary facility, all calls are directly routed to the new provider, saving carriers substantial costs. Mobile Number portability has been applied in countries such as - Singapore - 1997; United Kingdom - 1998; Hong Kong SAR; Netherlands - 1999; Spain, Sweden, Switzerland - 2000; Australia, Denmark, Italy, Norway - 2001; Belgium, Germany - 2002; Austria, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal - 2003.

There are three types of number portability: operator, location and service portability.

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* Contributed by -
Prabhat Jindal,
MBA - Class of 2007,
ICFAI Business School, Kolkata.