Mobile Number Portability and Regulation in India

GSIF - 7th March 2012

2008 Tata Communications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Agenda
Introduction India Regulatory | Mobile Number Portability (MNP) MNP Deployment Methodology In India Post MNP International Incoming Voice Call in India Pre MNP International SMS termination in India Post MNP Technical Challenges | Intl inbound SMS in India Post MNP Intl incoming SMS delivery in India Post MNP SMS Aggregator function Post MNP message flow Post MNP | Intl MNO to route India inbound SMS Summary | Action Required at Intl side Recent Amendment to Regulation

Introduction
Mobile Number Portability(MNP) launched in India on 20th January 2011. MNP Regulation, Licensing, Deployment and Specification had been initiated by: TRAI (Telecom Regulatory of India) DoT (Department of Telecom) TEC (Telecommunication Engineering Centre) India Licensor DoT has awarded the MNP License for Central Clearing House Zone1 (North-West region) to Syniverse Zone2 (South-East region) to Telcordia Number Portability is only applicable for Mobile Numbers. Fixed numbers (wirelines) are out of scope.

India Regulatory | Mobile Number Portability

MNP Database Access:
Only Indian telecom licensed operators (Access Service Providers , National Long Distance, and International Long Distance) are granted to access MNP database. MNP Database or porting information cannot be accessed or transferred out of India.

Lawful Interception(LI) Compliance:

Indian Licensed Operator must fulfil LI compliances for Voice and SMS as mandated by Regulator and Ministry of Home Affairs.

India Terminating International Voice and SMS:

Indian licensed International Long Distance Operators/International Gateway Providers (ILDO/IGP) are responsible for MNP resolution for India terminating International Voice and SMS. ILDO/IGPs perform MNP resolution and route call directly to subscription network.

MNP Deployment Methodology in India

LRN based Routing:

DoT has allocated 4-digit unique routing numbers called LRN (Location Routing Number) to all Mobile Operators for each LSA (Licensed Service Area) to identify individual network. Post MNP calls (Voice/Non Voice) will be routed on the basis of LRN.

All Call Query and Direct Routing:

All call query and direct routing method has been chosen for the MNP in India. Local MNPDB contains all ported in and ported out numbers. Originating network performs MNPDB query for all originating calls and directly routes to Subscription network.

Portability within Licensed Service Area:

A mobile subscriber can switch from one service provider to another within the same licensed area . For example a subscriber in Mumbai can switch from an Operator A to another Operator B in Mumbai only. It cannot switch from an Operator A in Mumbai to another Operator B in Delhi. So, Portability is not applicable for Inter Licensed Service Area.

Applicable Irrespective of Mobile Technology:

Portability is possible irrespective of Mobile Technology used by service provider. A mobile subscriber can change its operator from CDMA to GSM/UMTS and vice-versa.

Post MNP | Intl. Incoming Voice termination in India

The voice call originated from International network reaches Indian long distance licensed operator i.e. ILDO ILDO performs MNP Resolution, and routes call directly to the subscription network B. After MNP dip, B-MSISDN becomes LRN+NSN for Called Number in ISUP-IAM. where, LRN = Location Routing Number NSN = National Significant Number (Without Country Code) No Major impact on Voice call flow in post MNP as International Voice traffic is handed over to domestically located ILDO carrier having access to the MNP database.

Pre MNP Intl. SMS termination in India

Pre MNP bilateral agreement exists between International MNO and Indian MNO and at the same time SMS Agreement between Intl SMS Hub and Indian MNO Irrespective of above agreements at SMS level, Indian MNO receives SS7 message through Indian licensed ILDO or IGP. No International IGP or SMS Hub can directly connect to Indian MNOs using SS7 links Lawful Interception is mandatory for Indian licensed ILDO or IGP as per regulator and ministry of home affairs

Post MNP Technical Challenges | Intl inbound SMS in India

Lawful Interception: LI is challenge for Indian licensed ILDO or IGP in case subscriber ported from MNO A to MNO B Failure of SMS: The ported subscriber to MNO B will experience SMS failure if MNO A had bilateral agreement and MNO-B had SMS Hub agreement.

Post MNP Intl incoming SMS | SMS Aggregator

India telecom regulatory body and ministry of home affairs do not want to compromise on LI and successful SMS delivery post MNP To mitigate LI and SMS delivery issue, Indian regulatory introduced SMS Aggregator and Indian licensed ILDO or IGP are mandated to act as SMS Aggregator in post MNP SRI-SM Resp and MT-FSM will be forced to the SMS Aggregator and hence fulfilment of LI compliance (correlation of SRI-SM and MT-FSM) along with successful SMS delivery

Post MNP | SMS Aggregator

Indian licensed ILDO/IGP SMS Aggregator :
Only Indian Licensed ILDO/IGPs are allowed to access MNP database and are responsible for MNP resolution of India terminating International SMS . Indian Regulator mandated to Indian Licensed ILDO/IGPs, involved in Signalling Business to work as SMS Aggregator. Indian Regulator assigned unique GT range to each Indian Licensed ILDO/IGPs for SMS Aggregator. This GT should be used to deliver International SMS to Indian MNOs. GT ranges assigned to Indian licensed ILDO/IGPs must be recognized by Indian MNOs, Intl MNOs, Intl SMS Hubs and Intl IGPs.

Following two legs are involved for Intl. SMS delivery:

In first leg, SMS terminates to SMS Aggregator from International MNO/SMS Hubs. In second leg, SMS Aggregator performs MNP Resolution and invokes new MAP message (SRI for SM Request) to deliver SMS to appropriate Indian MNO.

Post MNP | SMS Aggregator

SMS Aggregator functions in the similar manner to SMS Hub. It receives MAP messages (e. g. SRI for SM Request, MT ForwardSM) from International MNOs/SMS Hubs, performs MNP Resolution and invokes new MAP messages towards Indian MNOs with SCCP CGPA of its own GT. In response, it receives MAP Messages (e. g. SRI for SM Response, MT ForwardSM Ack) from Indian MNOs and routes to Originating International MNO/SMS Hub again with SCCP CGPA of its own GT.

Here are the SMS Aggregator GT officially assigned to Indian ILDOs, involved in Signalling business:

SMS Aggregator, MNP and LI implementation architecture depends on different Indian licensed ILDO.
High level SMS Call Flow including SMS Aggregator shown in next slide
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Post MNP | SMS Aggregator Message Flow

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Post MNP | Intl MNO to route India terminating SMS

In post MNP, to ensure successful SMS delivery in India, International MNOs, IGPs and SMS Hubs need to do following:
International MNOs, IGPs and International SMS Hubs involved in MT SMS business with Indian MNOs have to define SMS Aggregator GT at their Network Nodes. International MNOs and International SMS Hubs have following two options to deliver SMS in India:

1. 2.

Handover SMS directly to the Indian Licensed ILDO/IGP having SMS Aggregator service. Request their existing IGPs (Signalling service provider) to handover India terminating SMS to Indian Licensed ILDO having SMS Aggregator service.

In first option, International MNOs/SMS Hubs have to define SMS Aggregator GT at their Network Nodes (Specifically SMSC and GMSC) and route it to Indian Licensed ILDO/IGP to which they want to connect. In Second Option International MNOs/SMS Hubs have to define SMS Aggregator GT at their Network Nodes and route it to their existing IGP. In this case IGPs have to define SMS Aggregator GT at their GMSC/STP and route it to Indian Licensed ILDO/IGP to which they want to handover SMS traffic for their On-net SCCP Customers.

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Summary | Action Required at Intl Side

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Recent Regulatory Amendment | New Requirements (Jan 2012)

All licensed ILDO/IGPs & Access providers are to ensure: no incoming international SMS containing alphabet header or alphanumeric header as a Calling Line Identification is delivered through its network no incoming international SMS containing the originating country code +91 is delivered through its network except on blackout days as provided in clause (k) of sub-regulation (2) of regulation 20 of the regulations no incoming international SMS from any source or number, originating more than two hundred (200) SMS per hour, having similar signature, is delivered through its network. global titles of only the network of those entities with whom the Access providers have entered into agreement are allowed in its network. Detail regulations available on www.trai.gov.in

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Questions?

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