With the roll out of mobile number portabillity (MNP) on a pilot basis in Haryana and a country-wide implementation expected by December 31,telecom operators are losing no time in trying to wean away subscribers from competition,while at the same time,guard their own subscriber base. The game plan is to step up promotions and educate subscribers on the benefits of their services. Telcos have already beefed up their network for giving their subscribers a better quality of service and to churn in subscribers once MNP sets off. Idea Cellular and Loop Mobile have been at the forefront of this. While Idea Cellular has begun with television commercials explaining what MNP brings for them,Loop Mobile has started promotions claiming that their network quality is the best in Mumbai. Large players like Vodafone Essar,Bharti Airtel,Reliance Communications (Rcom) and Tata Docomo are yet to begin such initiatives,but are studying the market. "We have done in-house surveys which suggest from which circles we can churn in subscribers,and in which circles we have to flex our muscles. We have invested in our network quality and customer care in a big way and have readied technology to enable portability, said an official from Vodafone Essar. MNP allows subscribers to switch operators without changing their number in the same telecom circle. With 95% of the market on pre-paid services and the dual-SIM phenomenon,the impact of MNP will be restricted to only the post-paid segment of the market. MNP may bring in risk of loss of high-end subscribers,especially post-paid subscribers and there could be a fall in post-paid tariffs to pre-paid levels,thereby impacting ARPUs of the operators. As per industry veterans,publci sector service providers,CDMA operators and operators with high-end corporate subscribers will be at a greater risk. As per our estimates,if post-paid realised revenue per minute were to go down to pre-paid levels,it will impact the revenues of Bharti,Rcom and Idea by 8% each, said Rajiv Sharma of HSBC Securities in a note. Though post-paid subscribers are 5% of the overall subscriber base,they contribute about 20% of sector revenues. The time-bound promotional offerings would see some shifts in terms of pre-paid customers in the lower ARPU segments. Ultimately,it will be the network superiority and experience excellence that will override the decision to port-in and port-out by subscribers, Anurag Prashar,president (corporate & wireless),customer service,Rcom. Locating and retaining highend subscribers would come with investments in customer care and network quality. We are just awaiting MNP as it will revolutionarise the way telcos look at quality of service, said Mahesh Choudhary,CEO,Microqual Techno. "The coming year will be a game changer as two important developments - Mobile Number portability (MNP) and 3G - will change the fate of telecom in India. We see MNP as a great opportunity and will be capitalising on it. Apart from retaining our customer base,we will be aiming to enhance our high end subscriber base, said Sandip Basu,CEO,Loop Mobile.
