Mobile Number Portability

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another.

 Mobile Number Portability in India
DoT (Department of Telecommunication) has finally given the green signal for Mobile Number portability (MNP). The MNP service was expected to be launched in the four metros including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai by the end of this year, but they will now have to wait till February or March 2009 as DoT (Department of Telecommunication) plans to start operations 6 months after the license is granted.

Market surveys have shown that between 25-50% of mobile users in India are unhappy with their operator, and are willing to switch to another service provider if allowed to retain their number.

Details of Mobile Number Portability
The DoT’s move is in line with the recommendations of telecom regulator Trai. DoT, in a statement, said all mobile operators, through a neutral third party, shall establish a “logically centralized database, the cost of which would be borne proportionately by the telcos.”

This implies, a telecom company that has 20% market share in the circle, will bear 20% of the cost of creating the centralized data base. All that the customer has to do is approach the recipient operator for porting the number, the DoT said.

Mobile Number Portability in the Internet Telephony / VOIP Environment
Mobile Number Portability also impacts the internet telephony, or VOIP (Voice over IP) business. A voice call originated in the VOIP environment which is routed to a mobile phone number of a traditional mobile carrier also face challenges to reach its destination in case the mobile phone number is ported.

VOIP is clearly identified as a Least Cost Routing (LCR) voice routing system, which is based on checking the destination of each telephone call as it is made, and then sending the call via the network that will cost the customer the least. With GSM number portability now in place, LCR providers can no longer rely on using the network root prefix to determine how to route a call. Instead, they now need to know the actual current network of every number before routing the call.

Therefore, VOIP solutions also need to handle MNP when routing a voice call. In countries without a central database like UK it might be necessary to query the GSM network about the home network a mobile phone number belongs to. As VOIP starts to take off in the enterprise markets because of least cost routing options, it needs to provide a certain level of reliability when handling calls.

MNP checks are important to assure that this quality of service is met; by handling MNP lookups before routing a call and assuring that the voice call will actually work, VOIP companies give businesses the necessary reliability they look for in an internet telephony provider. UK-based messaging operator Tyntec provides a Voice Network Query service, which helps not only traditional voice carriers but also VOIP providers to query the GSM network to find out the home network of a ported number.

In countries such as Singapore, the most recent Mobile Number Portability solution is expected to open the doors to new business opportunities for non-traditional telecommunication service providers like wireless broadband providers and voice over IP (VOIP) providers.

Last but not least, in November 2008 the North American FCC (Federal Communications Commission) released an order extending number portability obligations to interconnected VOIP providers and carriers that support VOIP providers.