Bharti in favour of cell phone number portability

Tag : Cell Phone Conference Call

Bharti Airtel, the country's leading mobile phone service provider, says it is ready for number portability.

In a conference call after the announcement of quarterly results last week, joint managing director Akhil Gupta said Bharti's systems were already calibrated for the eventuality.

Cellphone cos have a rocking June | Bharti says ball is in MTN's court

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) wants countrywide mobile number portability by June 2009.

Gupta expects it to be rolled out early next year. Under number portability, a subscriber can retain his phone number even after shifting to another service provider.

Consultations are on between the TRAI, Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and operators on the modalities of executing number portability.

Internationally, the cost of a switchover is around 30 pounds or Rs 2,400, a source said.

This fee is either paid by the subscriber to the network that he's switching to or the cost is shared by the new operator and the subscriber.