New Delhi – The Department of Telecom (DoT) has decided to extend its MNP implementation deadline by two months throughout the country. The deadline was earlier set for May 3. According to an official statement, the government following the request by the Telecom industry body COAI has extended the deadline. COAI had asked for the extension to enable MNP nationwide implementation possible.
The telecom operators would have to make several technical changes in the network, including changes in the national numbering plan (NNP).
According to the statement, COAI has said that the operators will require at least 8 weeks completing all the changes and hence extension was provided. DoT has already amended its NNP and has asked the operators to make their subscribers dial on the mobile numbers in the same circle or the intercircle without using any prefix.
Fulfilling Full MNP Implementation
The mobile users can also make calls using the prefix +91 or 0. Many operators have already updated software and hardware in their respective systems according to the requirement of full MNP. The operators have started doing the internal testing, and most of the operators are already in their advanced stage of testing.
The final detailed testing is likely to start in a few days. It will require almost two months for completion. The official statement of DoT says that it has made several changes to enable implementation of full MNP a success. Earlier on February 25, 2015, TRAI had issued a regulation stating the elaborate processing for the implementation of full MNP in actuality during the porting of the number.
The Dot statement further adds that the officials had detailed discussions with the stakeholders to understand their problem and address the technical complexities that the operators might face while implementing the requirements. The recommendations for these implementations made by TRAI were approved by DoT on November 3, 2014. The approved recommendation had set the implementation period within six months.
