The introduction of mobile number portability (MNP) in India has been pushed back once again following a meeting at the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the Economic Times reports.

It is understood that the failure to complete the implementation of systems to facilitate the service are the cause of the latest delays, and it now appears that MNP will not be launched until July at the earliest. The revelation follows earlier troubles in getting number portability off the ground; in December 2009 the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it had security concerns over the ownership structure of Telcordia joint venture MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions (MITS) India, which had been selected to administer MNP in southern and eastern states.

After the government had set a deadline of 31 March 2010 for MNP introduction, it said last month that the reconsideration of the company’s status had forced that date to be pushed back to May 2010.