Uninor users to be refunded, allowed MNP

Norwegian-backed cellco Uninor has begun offering mobile number portability (MNP) to customers in Mumbai after an order from the Supreme Court last week obliged the carrier to immediately cease operations in the circle. Sector watchdog the Telecoms Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) also instructed Uninor to refund its subscribers in Mumbai the value of their balance within 15 days. The cellco is understood to have paid out around INR400,000 (USD7,348) in refunds so far and has temporarily relocated staff and resources from other areas to handle the reimbursement process. As previously noted by CommsUpdate, the apex court ruled that operators close down operations in all areas in which they had not won spectrum: Uninor had declined to enter a bid for spectrum in Mumbai, deeming the reserve price prohibitively high, but revealed plans to purchase airwaves in that circle in the upcoming sale in March. The Supreme Court’s decision left 1.8 million Uninor subscribers without service and temporarily unable to port their numbers to other providers.