MNP system delayed as cellphone cos drag feet

The telecom regulator has moved to introduce mobile number portability (MNP), helping users to move from one operator to another without changing the existing number, officials said.
But the officials said cellphone operators remain reluctant.
"We've already drafted the MNP guidelines," said Md Sarwar Alam, secretary of the Bangladesh Telecommunic-ation Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
Mr Alam said the regulator has sent the guidelines to the ministry of posts, telecommunications and information technology for its approval.
"Once the guidelines are approved, we will move forward to implement the MNP system in the country," he said, adding that they will deploy third party vendor in this connection.
He said the commission will follow the process by which neighbouring countries such as India and Pakistan put such a system in place.
"The migration charge, operation, technical system and migration timeframe will be set up following the model of South Asian countries," Mr Alam noted.
However, telecom expert Abu Saeed Khan opposed the government decision to introduce MNP system in the country, saying that this has no relevance in the context of Bangladesh, as only one per cent users use post-paid services.
"Usually, the post-paid users want to migrate their network," said Mr Khan, adding that the government should conduct necessary background study before introducing such costly system.
Mr Khan, also a senior fellow of the regional ICT policy and regulation think tank Learn Asia, said the government should also analyse its business implications.  He said Sri Lanka has already backtracked from the MNP system.  
When contacted, TIM Nurul Kabir, secretary general of the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh said they have submitted a proposal to the BTRC in this connection. He however, declined to disclose what the proposal includes.
He noted that the government should take lesson from the neighbouring nations that have already introduced the MNP system.
"India and Pakistan have failed to get desired benefits from the MNP system," he noted.
In June 2013, the telecom regulator had asked the mobile phone operators to introduce the MNP service by January 2014, but officials said the operators expressed their inability, saying that it was not possible for them to implement this in such a short time.
A total of 124 million people used mobile phones in the country at the end of March, BTRC data showed.
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