NEW DELHI: Syniverse Technologies, the US-based company that provides business solutions to telcos, and is one of the two firms implementing mobile number portability in India, says this facility failed to have a major impact here because there was very little pent up demand for it when compared to other countries.
"There was not even an initial spike for mobile number portability since factors that cause people to shift operators - high call charges, low competition, being tied down to an operator on contract - all did not exist here," Syniverse global CEO Jeffery Gordon told ET in an interaction.
"My personal theory (for the low response to MNP) is that the market was already very competitive and almost all customers are on the pre-paid platform," he said, while adding that Indian cellular market was constantly maintaining a port rate of around 4%.
Mobile number portability, the facility that allows customers to retain their cellphone number while switching operators, was first introduced in Haryana in November 2010 and then extended to all parts of the country in January this year.
As per data complied by the telecom regulator, about 13 million of the 850 million connections in the country have opted for this facility so far with maximum number of porting requests having come from Gujarat (1.3 million) followed by Maharashtra (1.03 million).
According to the Syniverse chief executive, returns on their investments towards implementing MNP in India have been 'lower than what they had hoped' due to low port rates. But Gordon said that winning the contract had its set of positives as it provided Syniverse the opportunity to work with every mobile phone company in India who were prospective clients for its business solutions.
The Syniverse CEO is in India as the company is hosting a private workshop here designed to help operators optimise their existing networks, transition to 3G, and prepare for LTE, 4G and beyond. Globally, the company has about 1,500 employees, a fifth of which are in its technical centre in Bangalore.
"Over the next three years, India will be one of the top countries in terms of revenue mobilisation," Gordon said. But he declined to reveal figures when asked as to what percent of the company's revenues were from India.
He also cautioned that with a mere 5 MHz or units of 3G airwaves, the life-cycle for this high-end service would get saturated very quickly. "India is therefore one place in the world where even 4G networks can get filled up pretty quickly if you have devices for it," Gordon added.
Syniverse had been acquired by Carlyle Group for about $2.6 billion last year, and mobile service provider itself has a history of acquisitions. Asked on its plans to acquire smaller mobile services technology firms in India, Gordon admitted such opportunities existed here, but warned that further clarity was needed in the country's tax laws. "Some very important cases in the M&A space have to clear up. We want clarity on the tax front and we are learning," he added.......ET
"There was not even an initial spike for mobile number portability since factors that cause people to shift operators - high call charges, low competition, being tied down to an operator on contract - all did not exist here," Syniverse global CEO Jeffery Gordon told ET in an interaction.
"My personal theory (for the low response to MNP) is that the market was already very competitive and almost all customers are on the pre-paid platform," he said, while adding that Indian cellular market was constantly maintaining a port rate of around 4%.
Mobile number portability, the facility that allows customers to retain their cellphone number while switching operators, was first introduced in Haryana in November 2010 and then extended to all parts of the country in January this year.
As per data complied by the telecom regulator, about 13 million of the 850 million connections in the country have opted for this facility so far with maximum number of porting requests having come from Gujarat (1.3 million) followed by Maharashtra (1.03 million).
According to the Syniverse chief executive, returns on their investments towards implementing MNP in India have been 'lower than what they had hoped' due to low port rates. But Gordon said that winning the contract had its set of positives as it provided Syniverse the opportunity to work with every mobile phone company in India who were prospective clients for its business solutions.
The Syniverse CEO is in India as the company is hosting a private workshop here designed to help operators optimise their existing networks, transition to 3G, and prepare for LTE, 4G and beyond. Globally, the company has about 1,500 employees, a fifth of which are in its technical centre in Bangalore.
"Over the next three years, India will be one of the top countries in terms of revenue mobilisation," Gordon said. But he declined to reveal figures when asked as to what percent of the company's revenues were from India.
He also cautioned that with a mere 5 MHz or units of 3G airwaves, the life-cycle for this high-end service would get saturated very quickly. "India is therefore one place in the world where even 4G networks can get filled up pretty quickly if you have devices for it," Gordon added.
Syniverse had been acquired by Carlyle Group for about $2.6 billion last year, and mobile service provider itself has a history of acquisitions. Asked on its plans to acquire smaller mobile services technology firms in India, Gordon admitted such opportunities existed here, but warned that further clarity was needed in the country's tax laws. "Some very important cases in the M&A space have to clear up. We want clarity on the tax front and we are learning," he added.......ET
