Thursday's meeting to decide on mobile no. portability

With the threat of further delay in mobile number portability roll-out looming large, the government has invited senior officials of mobile operators and the two MNP licencees for a meeting on April 29 to discuss ways for quick implementation.

Recently, the department of telecom said the country is likely to launch mobile number portability services -- which allows users to switch operators without changing their phone numbers -- by June 30.

The time frame was based on the preparedness of some of operators who are yet to test their networks for readiness to launch MNP.

DoT has set a deadline of May 15 to complete the tests.

"Based on successful completion of the action taken (tests) . . .,the DoT will finally decide the dates for MNP implementation," a DoT statement had stated.

The MNP launch has already been delayed twice.

Earlier it was to be implemented by December 31, 2009 in Delhi,Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai circles as well as in the Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu circles.

The deadline was then changed to March 31 for a nationwide launch. In fact, irked by the constant delays, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has already said DoT must look into the actual hurdles of delays.