[silversteed]

Originally Posted by clevermax

Thanks. So I pay the bill in full on 4th, and then send the SMS. What will happen to my service afterwards? Can I still use Airtel's services until Vodafone gives me their SIM? What about the usage charges during that time? If it takes a week, then the un-billed usage charges will creep up to a fairly large amount even with minimal usage. :(

You need not worry about the services till porting takes place. Go to a Vodafone store and submit your documents. They'll take care of the rest of the things, including sending the SMS from your mobile (of course, in your presence). Then, they'll provide you with a Vodafone SIM that will be activated within 2 hours max (in my case it took hardly 15 minutes) after Airtel terminates their services.

If you've paid some additional amount during the previous billing cycle, it'll come to use during this period. Whatever remains unsettled at the time of porting will be billed accordingly and your deposit amount will be adjusted against it. The final bill will be sent to you once all the processes are over.

EDIT:
For me, things were really smooth. I sent the porting request, and contacted Vodafone through their website. On the same evening, a Vodafone executive came and collected my documents and noted down the porting request number. Exactly on the 7th day at 22:45hrs, Airtel terminated their services and at 23:00hrs Vodafone started theirs (perhaps even before that, as I inserted the Vodafone SIM only at 23:00hrs).

[GTO]

Those of you who are having trouble with MNP might do well in reading this thread.

[Sheel]

I wish to port my Reliance CDMA post paid number. The only option I have is Tata Indicom as only Tata Indicom CDMA have their post-paid connections at my place (besides BSNL which I have)

Wish to know as to whether Tata post-paid connection works at J&K and the NE states.

If not, I would be porting it to Tata Docomo GSM as the purpose to get post-paid connection would be futile if private operators won't work at J&K & NE states.

Thanks for help

[srikanthns]

A new trend in Kerala regarding MNP. There was a news item in Mathrubhumi (Malayalam newspaper) that BSNL has a net gain of 2 lakh subscribers ! This is against the trend observed in all other states where BSNL has lost subscribers. What prompts this ? I myself hold a per paid BSNL SIM , but I do not bother to switch in spite of shortcomings. But net gain in Kerala? That is news!

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

KL was already well "covered" by BSNL's landline connections. There were several telephone exchanges all over KL. Just before the mobile networks came in, average waiting list for BSNL land line connections in KL was less than 12 months. (Only in very highly saturated (by then standards) areas - like Ernakulam Boat Jetty exchange, or certain parts of TVM was the waiting list longer.

One cell tower on top of every exchange and BSNL had very excellent coverage. Right from the beginning, BSNL was having a lead over all other players when it came to coverage.

Right now, I find that my idea connection is practically useless about 35% of the time on train; with a BSNL, things are practically seamless. No roads, things may not be very different, but once you go to remote areas, BSNL coverage is ehads and shoulders above others. Additionally, inter-connectivity between BSNL and other networks is difficult especially during peak hours.

Originally Posted by srikanthns

A new trend in Kerala regarding MNP. There was a news item in Mathrubhumi (Malayalam newspaper) that BSNL has a net gain of 2 lakh subscribers ! This is against the trend observed in all other states where BSNL has lost subscribers. What prompts this ? I myself hold a per paid BSNL SIM , but I do not bother to switch in spite of shortcomings. But net gain in Kerala? That is news!

Probably, those road side stalls (like Maruti dealerships and ICICI bank stalls) set up by BSNL do help.

Query - Does MNP involve recurring / annual fees?

[_chikku]

I had applied for porting on 3rd of NOV, from BSNL to airtel. Its been a month now that nothing has happened. Both the customer care say we dont know. What to do ? I dont know

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by srikanthns

A new trend in Kerala regarding MNP. There was a news item in Mathrubhumi (Malayalam newspaper) that BSNL has a net gain of 2 lakh subscribers ! This is against the trend observed in all other states where BSNL has lost subscribers. What prompts this ? I myself hold a per paid BSNL SIM , but I do not bother to switch in spite of shortcomings. But net gain in Kerala? That is news!

I know two guys ported because they hold BSNL landline and there is some free talk among between them in addition to better coverage.

[HappyRoadie]

I want to port my number from Airtel to Vodafone. I had given my sim to a person who does all this stuff. It has been 4 days since I received the Vodafone sim but my Airtel sim is not getting deactivated. When I am calling that person he is saying that dont put the new sim right now. When the old sim gets deactivated then only put the new sim. It has been so long but nothing happened. Entire procedure has taken approxately 14 days but nothing is happening. Please tell whether he is saying right and what is the correct procedure. Should I put the new sim right away or wait for my airtel sim to get deactivated.?

[abdriver2000]

Originally Posted by HappyRoadie

I want to port my number from Airtel to Vodafone. I had given my sim to a person who does all this stuff. It has been 4 days since I received the Vodafone sim but my Airtel sim is not getting deactivated. When I am calling that person he is saying that dont put the new sim right now. When the old sim gets deactivated then only put the new sim. It has been so long but nothing happened. Entire procedure has taken approxately 14 days but nothing is happening. Please tell whether he is saying right and what is the correct procedure. Should I put the new sim right away or wait for my airtel sim to get deactivated.?

Usually the old sim gets deactivated first. However, nothing bad or wrong will happen in case you try out the new sim. However, you need to follow up with Airtel on why they are holding up the transfer.

[condor]

Initiated the process to port one num from Airtel to BSNL. Reason ? I wanted a low monthly charge post-paid plan, and the best Airtel has is a 149 + 50 (CLIP) plan.

Soon after I sent the SMS, Airtel calls up and asks why. And in response, the operator says that Airtel does have a SuperSaver 99 plan too !

Guess you just need to convey your intentions to get intended plans ?

EDIT:
But they dont want to make it easy. I had sent a mail asking for plan details, but the team replies asking for more information from my side. Well, I think I will continue with the MNP process.

[girishglg]

For a postpaid connection, it is too much of an hassle to switch since one has to change the standing instructions for bill pay (have one) and so on.

One thing have learnt during all times, post paid customers are the most valuable ones for a mobile company, hence they will do all things to retain one.

If you have a problem, just make your voice heard and say that you are switching, they will do as much possible just to ensure that you stay, if they don't then well SWITCH.

It is a good thing to do this if you are moving to a different circle though not sure if it can be done.

Have an Airtel all along.

[sa_kiran]

Nationwide mobile number portability by February - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...w/17595462.cms

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal today said nationwide Mobile Number Portability (MNP) is expected to be rolled out by February next year, which will allow users to retain their numbers even if they move from one state to another.

[ninjatalli]

Having ported out twice in the past, it's a pity I haven't seen this thread before. Just to put this out, my porting history has been

Airtel (Prepaid) --> (Two porting attempts) --> Idea (Postpaid) --> (One porting attempt) --> Vodafone (Postpaid) --> (Porting currently) --> Idea (Postpaid)

Basically, bad network at office locations, billing issues, blackberry issues have been the reason of porting. A few guidelines (apologies if it has already been covered)

- Keep sufficient, if needed, extra balance in your account. This applies both for prepaid and postpaid.
- Pay your bills in advance, before you send the porting request. Especially for postpaid users, keep a track on the un-billed amount and pay it in advance (For e.g. my outstanding is -300 (credit); in line with my unbilled amount)
- Expect nagging, "problem solving" calls from customer care. This is generally a trap, do not fall into it. They'll subtly ask you to cancel the porting request, assuring that the problem will be solved.
- The process is generally quite simple - you raise a request, and wait. Either one day you'll receive a rejection sms with a probable reason, or the service will be disconnected; meaning the porting was successful. In this scenario, you won't get any message. The overall time could vary from 5-6 days to 15 days.
- Ideally the new operator will have a verification process after the porting is successful. For my last two port(s), it took me at max one working day for the new sim to be activated (after the existing sim stopped working).
- The new operator customer care might not be able to identify your number for a day or two (in case you call them). Be clear to them that this is a ported number in case you call them. (For e.g. Idea guys refused to take any request from me for a day citing I was not an Idea customer )
- The fees (19Rs) is a one-time cost. If you had any extra credit with the previous operator, consider it sunk cost.

Will update on the success/failure of my current porting attempt. As per the idea sales guy, Vodafone are very resilient in not letting their postpaid guys to port out. But I'm not giving up without a fight for sure!

[binand]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Having ported out twice in the past, A few guidelines (apologies if it has already been covered)

Thanks for this - I have sent it to a friend of mine. This friend typically rings up bills in five figures every month on his current operator. Apparently a colleague of his left the city with a large outstanding bill and no forwarding address; so this operator handed over the account to a collection agency. The agency gave my friend a call asking him to report to court (!). So we got wondering how the agency got my friend's number; and the only possibility that we came up with is that the operator could have shared "frequently called numbers" of the absconder with the collection agency.

My friend is now quite pissed off with his operator and is considering porting to Airtel. This information will help him. :-)

[driving_smartly]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Will update on the success/failure of my current porting attempt. As per the idea sales guy, Vodafone are very resilient in not letting their postpaid guys to port out. But I'm not giving up without a fight for sure!

Very true, one of the directors in our office had a torrid time while porting out from Vodafone postpaid to Airtel postpaid.

Daily follow up with both the companies and 'N' number of visits to Vodafone store it almost took him two months to port out successfully from Vodafone to Airtel

One reason being his monthly bill was between 4K - 5K. After porting to Airtel his bill has reduced substantially (that's what he says)