In its recent recommendations, “Efficient Utilisation of Numbering Resources in India”, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has mandated a shift from the current eight-digit numbers to 10-digit numbers for fixed line phones by December 2011, similar to that of mobile phones. “The country should migrate to an integrated 10-digit numbering scheme at the earliest. All preparations should be complete by September 30, 2011, and actual migration to the integrated scheme should be completed by December 31, 2011,” TRAI notes.
According to TRAI, a well-designed numbering plan will ensure a structured approach to the allocation and assignment of numbers, which will be consistent with international best practices and with the rapidly growing telecom subscriber base.
The last major review of the numbering plan was carried out in 2003 with the formulation of the National Numbering Plan 2003. This plan was designed to create space for 750 million telephone connections, including 450 million mobile connections. This numbering system, which was expected to last till 2030, has been under severe strain with the mobile subscriber base crossing 600 million.
Given that the number of telecom subscribers is estimated to cross 1 billion by 2014 and the sector expected to grow at a rapid clip, TRAI believes there is a need to review the numbering system.
Over the past year, TRAI had been considering migration to an 11-digit numbering plan. However, after consulting with various stakeholders, it now believes that such a migration would lead to difficulties for subscribers as well as service providers. It would increase the cost of system upgrades for the operator and it would result in the issuance of new SIMs to existing subscribers.
With long-term sustainability in mind and to avoid confusion, TRAI has opted for the more uniform 10-digit numbering system for both mobile and fixed line phones. This system, according to the regulator, will vacate enough numbers to facilitate the expansion of existing services and allow the introduction of new services over the next 30-40 years. Besides, the new numbering system will not only support the extension of number portability to fixed lines (as and when number portability is introduced in the country), it will also help prepare a converged mobile and landline directory.
To assist mobile operators, TRAI has recommended the removal of the current limit on number segments from just 9 and 8 to all number segments from 2 to 9. This step will go a long way in absorbing the over 15 million monthly mobile subscriptions, according to service providers.
The following are some of the key features of the TRAI recommendations:
- Operators to migrate to an integrated 10-digit numbering scheme, preferably by December 2011.
- While the details of the integrated numbering, routing plans and interconnection architecture will be prepared by TRAI after the acceptance of these recommendations by the Department of Telecommunications, in the intervening period, the operators need to adopt the following steps to create sufficient numbering space:
- No change in the dialling plan of fixed to fixed, intercircle fixed to mobile, and mobile to mobile calls
- Dial intra-circle fixed to mobile calls with prefix 0
- Existing short distance charging area (SDCA) codes starting with 2, 3, 4 and 6 can be used for mobile services by suffixing 0, 1, 8 and 9.
- The codes defined as spare in the National Numbering Plan 2003 should be kept free till the new numbering plan comprising the integrated numbering scheme is notified.
- The present arrangement for the allocation of new blocks of numbers after demonstrating 80 per cent utilisation for fixed lines and 60 per cent for mobiles should be continued. However, the service provider cannot have more than 3 million unutilised mobile numbers in a service area at the time of requesting for a new block of numbers.
- Details provided by mobile operators for the allocation of fresh blocks of numbers should include the details of numbers ported in and out, utilisation of short codes and other codes, and the operator’s annual forecast for three years. Moreover, the returns should be submitted every time the service provider seeks a fresh block of numbers.
- Automated allocation of numbering resources will be introduced along with proper checks and balances.
- All allocated short codes, mobile switching centre codes, service control point codes and exchange levels should be made available on the operator’s website to maintain transparency.
