Telecom users may have seen bills drop after switching operators in their own circles.But the government's plan to take mobile number portability (MNP) nationwide – where a user would be able to retain the number while switching from one circle to another-- may lead to inflated bills.
According to the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the industry will have to bear a minimum back-haul cost of Rs 300 crore to 400 crore post the implementation of a nationwide MNP. It will add more pressure on the balance-sheets of the telecom operators which only recently started showing improvements in their profit margins.
"It would impact the operators in the costs involved in implementing this. According to the estimates of our expenditure during the intra-circle MNP, it would cost not less than Rs 300 crore to Rs 400 crore," Rajan Mathews, director general, COAI, told dna.
"Whether the operators hike tariffs thereafter will depend on the market forces but it will definitely increase the pressure on their margins," he said.
MNP was launched across the country on January 20, 2011, and so far over 100 million subscribers have opted for the service. The country has around 900 million telecom subscribers.
Although cumulatively 100 million is quite an impressive figure and talks a lot about the popularity of the service, experts feel this is still not at par with the monthly churn statistics of countries like the US or the UK.
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