The Hindu Business Line : Number portability issue leads to war of words

In transit
GSM operators allege that the Ministry was introducing the facility to favour RCom.
RCom says GSM players including Aircel, Idea and Spice will benefit most as they launch services in new circles.

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Nov. 13 After sparring over spectrum, GSM and CDMA operators have now locked horns over the Government’s decision to allow mobile number portability – a system that allows subscribers to change the operator without having to give up their mobile number.

Notwithstanding the benefit to 200 million mobile consumers, the GSM operators are alleging that the Communication Ministry was introducing the facility to favour Reliance Communication, which is set to enter the GSM market.

“The industry feels that mobile number portability was being introduced to benefit a select operator desirous of entering the GSM segment and thereafter poaching on the subscribers of existing GSM players,” said Mr T.V. Ramachandran, Director-General, Cellular Operators’ Association of India.

In response, Reliance Communication said that COAI’s opposition to number portability was beyond comprehension. “GSM players including Aircel, Idea and Spice will benefit most from MNP as they launch services in new circles. COAI fears on poaching of customers illustrate monopolistic, anti-competition, anti-consumer mindset,” RCom said in a statement.

Though COAI said that it had no objection to the introduction of number portability, it added a rider that the Government should introduce the facility for fixed line subscribers as well.

“Internationally, number portability is used to promote competition and that in India, the need for increased competition was more evident in the fixed line segment where 90 per cent of the subscribers were with one operator,” said Mr Ramachandran.

CDMA operators, however, said that this was COAI’s way to indirectly block number portability since it was technically and financially not feasible to introduce the facility for fixed line telephones. They also pointed out that GSM players were worried of a higher churn rate in the subscriber base.

“Customers are nobody’s monopoly. It is time for COAI to drop the charade of being an industry association. COAI should stop shadow-boxing on behalf of two operators (Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Esar),” RCom said.