Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) has reportedly activated its calling name presentation (CNAP) service across India for on-net users, marking an important milestone in the telecom industry’s move towards network-level caller name identification.
With CNAP now live, Vi subscribers can view the registered name of the caller during incoming calls instead of seeing only the mobile number. The feature is aimed at helping users identify callers more easily and reduce the risk of unknown or unwanted calls. At present, the service is limited to calls made within the Vi network, with inter-network implementation planned in a later phase.
CNAP functions by displaying the caller’s name as recorded in the telecom operators know-your-customer (KYC) database. Unlike third-party caller identification applications, CNAP works directly at the network layer and does not depend on crowd-sourced or external databases. For now, the service is restricted to on-net calls, meaning both the caller and the recipient must be Vi users. This phased rollout allows operators to assess accuracy and system performance before expanding the feature further.
Further, other telecom operators are also in the process of deploying similar capabilities. Industry-wide, inter-operator CNAP is expected to be introduced gradually as the necessary technical integrations between networks are completed.
