To implement the mobile-number portability or MNP in India soon, the Union Home Ministry approved the proposal of the US-based Telcordia Technologies to implement MNP, report media.
The clearance cleared the decks for the final approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board or FIPB. This enables mobile subscribers to switch to different telecom service providers, while retaining the same numbers. Telcordia is one of the agencies selected to manage the porting exercise.
The Home Ministry noted that the company was merely a vendor in Pakistan and did not have any role in number-portability. It also said that its Indian partner, Deepak Talwar and Consultants that formed a joint venture with Telcordia called MNP Interconnection, had the required expertise in telecom services.
However, it imposed certain conditions for the OK., such as no equipment and services provided to India or to any Indian associate company should have any connection with Pakistan. It also said that the number-portability data that concerned India should be maintained in a server located in India and both the CEO and CFO of the joint venture should be of Indian origin.
The ministry's approval was delayed as security concerns regarding the presence of Telcordia Technologies in Pakistan were raised by the IB and RAW. It also raised concerns on the expertise of the local partner, adding that the US partner might have the upper hand on the management of the joint venture. Telcordia Technologies owns 74% of MNP Interconnection while 26% is held by Deepak Talwar Consultants.
MNP was earlier proposed to be implemented on January 1, but was postponed to April 1 as the operators were not ready with their networks. Besides MNP Interconnection, the telecom ministry gave licence to Syniverse to act a number-portability service provider in India.
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