NEW DELHI: As against moving to 11-digit mobile numbers, telecom regulator Trai is planning an alternate solution where it will retain the
While existing mobile numbers will remain intact, this model will lead to all landline numbers having 10-digits. Trai officials are of the view that it is easier for the 40 million landline users to shift to a 10-digit format as against 510 million and growing mobile users moving to a 11-digit cellphone numbers.
ET has also learned that Trai will launch a consultation process on this issue this week to seek the industry’s reaction before implementing its proposal. The move from the regulator comes even as the Department of Telecom (DoT) in November 2009 had prepared a draft notification in which it sought all mobile users to adopt a 11-digit numbering plan this year by prefixing ‘9’ to their existing cellphone numbers. But, DoT, confronted with stiff opposition from all leading operators who said that it would be “next to impossible” for India to move to 11-digit mobile numbers in 2010 since this would involve making massive technical changes to both softwares and and mobile network configurations, then put the plan on hold.
The issue assumes significance because the country is set to run out of mobile numbers within two years. While the ‘9’ series has the potential for a billion cellular numbers, this series is set to exhausted within the next two years. Currently, India has over 500 million cellular customers, but the country has already used up over 700 million mobile numbers due to churn where customers switch operators and several other factors such a migration, where existing numbers cannot be used at new destinations due to technological constraints. Unlike most Western nations, surrendered or unused mobile numbers are not recycled back into the system in India. Besides, the country is also adding 150 million new cellular customers every year.
The existing numbering plan was fixed in 2003 and DoT had expected it to be in place till 2030. This is because, based on the 2003-projections, India was expected to have 500 million mobile customers only by 2030. But the country has reached that mark in 2009 itself. India has been the world’s fastest growing cellular market for the past three years, surpassing even China.
Trai proposal will open up all levels except numbers beginning with the digit ‘1’, which the regulator wants to reserve for emergency services, toll free numbers and for government-related issues. If the levels, say ‘7’ and ‘8’ are opened up and allotted to mobile operators, this will increase the mobile numbering resources by an additional 2 billion. The Cellular Operators Association of India, the body representing GSM telcos, has pointed out the opening of just two additional levels, even with 60% efficiency would cater to 1,200 million more subscribers, which is sufficient to meet the requirements of all operators for the next seven to 10 years.
“If we open up all levels, say from digits 2-9, this will provide us with a further 8 billion mobile numbers. The Indian population will never exceed 1.5 billion and therefore this pool of numbers will never ever be exhausted,” the Trai official said. This official also added that moving landline numbers to the 10-digit format would ensure that operators can issue about a billion fixedline connections, a permanent solution as this would never happen.
Landline numbers, which currently are less than 40 million, have been steadily falling over the last five years due to the mobile phone revolution. “In countries, like the US, there is no difference in the numbering format between mobile and landline numbers – our proposal will enable India to implement such a similar system, the Trai official added.
