This isn’t the first time that the TRAI has recommended that the government implement number portability this year; the regulatory body expects it to herald an improvement in the quality of service, reports the Hindu. I’m not sure if it’s some kind of a plan to talk about number portability every few months, but like talk about the last mile unbundling (for broadband), it really doesn’t seem to have had much of an effect.
Many users are tied to mobile numbers that we’ve had for years, and even if the quality of service is poor – people hesitate to switch operators because it means changing mobile numbers. Number portability will mean that operators compete for each others’ subscribers, and also to retain existing subscribers. Increased competition means that the consumer wins. Operators are likely to be affected by a substantial increase in subscriber churn. Profitability across the board is likely to be hit, and cost of retaining customers will go up. They would invariably have to upgrade their services – differentiate and tie consumers to specific services. In this situation, VAS players are likely to benefit the most since operators will leverage their services. However, I don’t think it’s likely that the government will introduce number portability until teledensity increases substantially. If operators are left fighting to hold on to their high ARPU urban customers, increasing costs could slow down a rural expansion.
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