• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• Smartbuy

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

Mumbai, Aug. 29 Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is not in favour of imposing a fee on mobile subscribers who want to retain their telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another.

However, it will finally boil down to the recommendations that Telecom Regulatory Authority of India will issue, Mr Siddharth Behura, Telecom Secretary, told newspersons on the sidelines of the ‘Telecom Energy Summit’ held here in Mumbai.

Number portability will be operational in metros by April next year following which there will be a phase-wise launch in the rest of the circles.

According to a survey by IDC, over 30 per cent of mobile users will change their operator if they have this service. However, GSM mobile operators are in favour of having a fee for number portability. This is because implementing this service would require operators to fork out over Rs 4,000 crore.

Mr Behura also said that the auction process for 3G spectrum licenses will be completed by September 30, as the DoT wants mobile operators to launch services by the year end.

According to some reports, State-run BSNL and MTNL would launch high-end 3G services by the end of this calendar year.

More Stories on : Telecommunications

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line