Over 17 lakh users opt for MNP: Trai

NEW DELHI: About a fortnight after the national rollout of the Mobile Number Portability ( MNP) service, more than 17 lakh mobile subscribers have opted for the facility that allows users to change their service provider while retaining the number, telecom regulator Trai said on Tuesday.

The MNP service was introduced on a pilot basis in Haryana on November 25, 2010 and was later rolled out pan-India from January 20 this year. Of the total 17.11 lakh requests received, about 2.29 lakh were from Haryana circle where MNP was first implemented, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said in a statement.

In other circles, Gujarat saw the highest number of switching requests at 1.67 lakh, followed by Rajasthan (1.44 lakh) in Zone-I (northern and western India). In number portability Zone-II (southern and eastern region), maximum number of requests were received in Karnataka (1.16 lakh) and Tamil Nadu (1.14 lakh) circles.

Trai said it is constantly monitoring the implementation of the service. It noted that certain requests were rejected by telecom operators because subscribers had quoted incorrect Unique Porting Code (a unique number given to a subscriber who wants to change his operator ) in the porting form. The rejection was also on account of non-payment of outstanding bill and non-completion of 90 days from the date of activation of mobile number.