India extends number portability deadline

India has extended the deadline for operators to introduce mobile number portability (MNP) nationwide from the start of the year to the end of March 2010.

The delay has come about because many of the country’s operators seem technically unprepared to handle the process, which allows consumers to take their mobile phone number from one provider to another.

The original plan required that metropolitan areas rolled out MNP from January 1, 2010, but various network upgrades and tests still need to be carried out by the operators themselves and by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). As a result, the DoT has extended the timeline for the deployment of MNP across the whole country – rural and metro areas alike – to March 31.