02-19-2008, 09:52 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Cell numbers may go from 10 digits to 11</b>
Your mobile phone number may not change immediately, but the countdown has begun. Eventually, mobile subscribers in India will have to deal with 11-digit numbers, a change from the current 10-digit numbers.
The issue is currently being debated between the government and the regulator. But, industry sources say that India can add another 250 million mobile subscribers without having to move to the 11-digit format. That should see us through till 2010. But if the rate of subscriber additions grows, all bets are off.
The mobile phone user base in the country as at the end of December, 2007 was 237 million. The average monthly growth in the wireless subscriber base is around eight million. With the growth trend continuing, there would be around 450 million mobile subscribers by the year 2010.
Also, with many new telecom operators getting letters of intent (LoIs) to begin operations, competition is only intensifying.
To deliberate on how the new numbering plan must evolve, the Telecom Engineering Centre (which is the technical wing of the department of telecommunications) has called meetings with operators on Tuesday and Wednesday.
While state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) will make their presentations to the TEC on Tuesday, the representative associations of private mobile operators (COAI and AUSPI) will give their inputs on the numbering plan on Wednesday.
It is believed that both the government and the industry are looking at a numbering framework that will cause minimum disturbance to existing mobile phone users. The most likely scenario at the time of transition from 10-digits to 11 will involve pre-fixing a number before the last five digits or suffixing a number at the end of the current number.
So how soon will the numbering format change? An industry representative said that it would depend on two factors. First, on how the existing mobile network codes (the first two digits in any mobile number) are utilised, and, second, on the creation of new codes. While 98, 99, 93, 94, 92 and 97 are the codes in use by mobile phone operators, the 91 code is vacant. The 96 code, which was meant for pagers, can be utilised for mobile phone services now.
In India, the first numbering plan was announced in 1993, when mobile telephony was yet to begin. In 2003, a fresh plan came about, but at that point no one knew that India would witness a growth rate of eight million mobile subscribers every month. As per international norms, every mobile phone number in the country should have a uniform number of digits. That is, if it is to be an 11-digit format, all mobile numbers (irrespective of whether the operator is new or old, big or small) will follow the same model.
India is not the only country where mobile numbers have had to be changed because of the growth story and new operators joining in. China and the UK are among others to have done it. The US is believed to have handled things much better because it follows an integrated numbering planâfor fixed and mobile phones.
While Indiaâs total mobile subscriber base is at 237 million, China leads with 534 million followed by the US with 257 million. Russia is at 172 million.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Your mobile phone number may not change immediately, but the countdown has begun. Eventually, mobile subscribers in India will have to deal with 11-digit numbers, a change from the current 10-digit numbers.
The issue is currently being debated between the government and the regulator. But, industry sources say that India can add another 250 million mobile subscribers without having to move to the 11-digit format. That should see us through till 2010. But if the rate of subscriber additions grows, all bets are off.
The mobile phone user base in the country as at the end of December, 2007 was 237 million. The average monthly growth in the wireless subscriber base is around eight million. With the growth trend continuing, there would be around 450 million mobile subscribers by the year 2010.
Also, with many new telecom operators getting letters of intent (LoIs) to begin operations, competition is only intensifying.
To deliberate on how the new numbering plan must evolve, the Telecom Engineering Centre (which is the technical wing of the department of telecommunications) has called meetings with operators on Tuesday and Wednesday.
While state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) will make their presentations to the TEC on Tuesday, the representative associations of private mobile operators (COAI and AUSPI) will give their inputs on the numbering plan on Wednesday.
It is believed that both the government and the industry are looking at a numbering framework that will cause minimum disturbance to existing mobile phone users. The most likely scenario at the time of transition from 10-digits to 11 will involve pre-fixing a number before the last five digits or suffixing a number at the end of the current number.
So how soon will the numbering format change? An industry representative said that it would depend on two factors. First, on how the existing mobile network codes (the first two digits in any mobile number) are utilised, and, second, on the creation of new codes. While 98, 99, 93, 94, 92 and 97 are the codes in use by mobile phone operators, the 91 code is vacant. The 96 code, which was meant for pagers, can be utilised for mobile phone services now.
In India, the first numbering plan was announced in 1993, when mobile telephony was yet to begin. In 2003, a fresh plan came about, but at that point no one knew that India would witness a growth rate of eight million mobile subscribers every month. As per international norms, every mobile phone number in the country should have a uniform number of digits. That is, if it is to be an 11-digit format, all mobile numbers (irrespective of whether the operator is new or old, big or small) will follow the same model.
India is not the only country where mobile numbers have had to be changed because of the growth story and new operators joining in. China and the UK are among others to have done it. The US is believed to have handled things much better because it follows an integrated numbering planâfor fixed and mobile phones.
While Indiaâs total mobile subscriber base is at 237 million, China leads with 534 million followed by the US with 257 million. Russia is at 172 million.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->