India plans to implement fixed number portability

India’s Department of Telecom has asked telecoms regulator Trai to draw up recommendations for the planned implementation of nationwide fixed number portability.

The department has sent a reference to the regulator on fixed line portability in line with the government’s planned ‘one nation, one number’ policy.

As part of the proposal, India would transition to 10-digit fixed line numbers, by merging current STD codes with the seven to eight digit landline numbers.

India started implementing mobile number portability since 2010, starting with specific telecoms circles or service areas. The ability to port numbers between service areas was introduced in July 2015.

Since 2010 India’s mobile operators have fielded more than 428.4 million porting requests.

But according to the report, the Department of Telecom expects the implementation of fixed number portability to be significantly more complicated, due to issues including copper last mile connectivity and the presence of competing fixed line service providers.

As a result, the department expects the consultation and recommendation drafting process to be a protracted one.

Porting landline numbers could also take more time than porting mobile numbers – which can currently be completed in between two to four days.