Mobile Number Portability service launches at Tk 158

M Humayun Kabir
Mobile Number Portability (MNP) services have been launched commercially for the first time in Bangladesh since yesterday morning on a trial service.
The MNP services allow mobile phone numbers to remain unchanged even after changing operators, reports bdnews24.com
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Acting Chairman Md Jahurul Haque made the announcement of launching of the service at a press conference.
On the first day, some seventeen people have changed operators since the start of the service.
Mobile phone users will pay a total of Tk 158, including a charge and the SIM replacement tax.
The BTRC chairman said that users will be able to make full use of the service although the launch is on a ‘test commercial basis’.
Bangladesh-Slovenian consortium Infozillion received the licence last November.
Users who want to change operators will have to pick up a new SIM at the operators’ service centre after paying a fee, said Infozillion.
The company said the process will take a maximum of five minutes and the change should be implemented within 72 hours.
Users who wish to change operators once again will have to wait 90 days before they can reuse the MNP service.
According to the BTRC, currently 72 countries across the world currently offer MNP services. In India the MNP services began in 2011 and Pakistan launched it in 2007.