The government today extended to December 31 implementation of mobile number portability, a facility allowing subscribers to retain their numbers even after changing service providers.
The 100-day delay in the scheduled execution of the MNP is attributed to operators' inability to upgrade their network as well as to the delay on part of regulator Trai to come out with tariff for the service.
"The implementation of MNP is under progress. However, this required customisation and upgradation of the existing network to be capable of providing the MNP service. Certain technical and commercial issues related to it are also being resolved. All this requires considerable time and effort. Therefore, it has been decided by the Department of Telecom (DoT) to extend the date of implementation of MNP in Metro Category A service areas to December 31, 2009 in the first phase," DoT said in a statement.
Accordingly the service is likely to be available by end of 2009 to begin with in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, it said.
The DoT had issued guidelines for for its implementation in the country in August last year.