NEW DELHI: Mobile number portability (MNP) will be implemented from December 31 in metros and category ‘A’ service areas, and by 20th March, 2010, in rest of the country, telecom regulator TRAI said.

The MNP facility will enable subscribers to retain their cell phone numbers even after changing service providers.

The government earlier this month had said implementation of MNP would be delayed by three months as regulations were still being made. Issuing “Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Regulations, 2009”, TRAI said the MNP facility shall be available only within a given licensed service area.

A subscriber holding a mobile number is eligible to make a porting request only after 90 days of the date of activation of his mobile connection.

If a number is already ported once, the number can again be ported only after 90 days from the date of the previous porting. The cost to the subscriber seeking the porting is yet to be decided.

The subscriber who wishes to port his mobile number should approach the recipient operator (the operator to whom the subscriber wants to port his number). The subscriber may be required to pay porting charges, if any, to the recipient operator.