Aircel 2G customers may have to port to other telcos if Supreme Court order adverse

The department of telecommunications (DoT) has asked Aircel to inform their 2G mobile subscribers in advance about provisionally porting their numbers to other operators in case the Supreme Court gives an adverse ruling in the Aircel-Maxis case related to the 2G spectrum scam.

The case relates to alleged irregularities in the Aircel-Maxis deal and the grant of 2G spectrum licence in 2006.

In a letter to the company on January 18, DoT said that Aircel/Dishnet Wireless can inform its 2G mobile subscribers in the 14 service areas in advance about the option of mobile number portability (MNP) and to exercise the option “provisionally” for continuity of services in case the Supreme Court passes an adverse order.

DoT also asked sectoral regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to take necessary action in this regard.

It asked Trai to “issue suitable directions/regulations for MNP process” to Aircel addressing the probable porting issues like generation of large number of Unique Porting Code (UPC) to cater to subscribers in the 2G service areas, increase in validity of UPC code, relaxation of rejection porting clause of 90-days, etc to make the MNP process convenient for the consumers.

The DoT asked both Aircel and Trai to inform it about the action taken by January 27 so that it can intimate the Supreme Court. Earlier this month, the apex court had proposed to cancel the 2G spectrum licence of the company if Maxis owner, Malaysia-based Anantha Krishnan, and his one-time aide and director Augustus Ralph Marshal failed to appear before it. The court had directed the government to devise measures through which the 2G licence granted to Aircel can be provisionally transferred to any other telecom operator so that the subscribers do not suffer.

The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for February 3.