Number portability will increase margins: Mittal
Sunil Mittal says that his company is prepared for MNP on a national basis and that its implementation would not impact margins. Another 5.7 million say Hello!
By Joji Thomas Philip, TNN |
NEW DELHI: Chennai may miss mobile number portability (MNP) next year. While telecom minister A Raja has announced that MNP will be implemented in all the four metros — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkatta and Chennai — next year, sector regulator Trai which has been entrusted with the task of laying guidelines for the rollout is confronted with a unique roadblock.
Unlike the other three metros, Chennai is no longer a separate telecom circle following its merger with the Tamil Nadu circle last year, and it will therefore not be possible to implement MNP in just one city within a circle. Trai will present this position to the government within the next couple of days.
“This is a technological challenge. It may not be feasible to isolate Chennai from the rest of the circle,” explained a Trai source.
Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal on Wednesday told reporters that his company was prepared for MNP on a national basis, and added that its implementation would not impact margins, but may attract more subscribers from smaller telcos and also CDMA players switching to Airtel.
“It (MNP) will not affect our margins. We are hopeful that margins will increase as Bharti’s network would attract high value customers from CDMA networks,” Mr Mittal told the media on the sidelines of the CII Knowledge Summit.
Mr Mittal also added that MNP should be introduced in all circles, and not just the four metros. The logic being, “Competition in telcom circles outside the four metros is not so intense and therefore the need to implement MNP in these areas is more urgent,” he added.
Unlike the other three metros, Chennai is no longer a separate telecom circle following its merger with the Tamil Nadu circle last year, and it will therefore not be possible to implement MNP in just one city within a circle. Trai will present this position to the government within the next couple of days.
“This is a technological challenge. It may not be feasible to isolate Chennai from the rest of the circle,” explained a Trai source.
Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal on Wednesday told reporters that his company was prepared for MNP on a national basis, and added that its implementation would not impact margins, but may attract more subscribers from smaller telcos and also CDMA players switching to Airtel.
“It (MNP) will not affect our margins. We are hopeful that margins will increase as Bharti’s network would attract high value customers from CDMA networks,” Mr Mittal told the media on the sidelines of the CII Knowledge Summit.
Mr Mittal also added that MNP should be introduced in all circles, and not just the four metros. The logic being, “Competition in telcom circles outside the four metros is not so intense and therefore the need to implement MNP in these areas is more urgent,” he added.
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