The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recently released recommendations for the revision of national numbering plan. To address the constraints related to the availability of adequate fixed-line numbering resources, DoT (Department of Telecommunications) had asked TRAI to give its recommendations. TRAI has now issued the recommendations, and here are the highlights.
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TRAI Recommendations on Revision of National Numbering Plan
TRAI said that no extra charges should be applicable on telecom numbering resources. Further, the DoT should monitor and withdraw the unused numbering resources carefully. For the fixed-line numbering resource, TRAI recommended that a move from short-distance charging area (SDCA) to license service area (LSA) based 10 digit closed numbering scheme will help in unlocking numbering resources currently restricted to the SDCA level only.
TRAI also said that all fixed line calls should be dialled using a prefix of '0' followed by the STD code and the subscriber number. However, there should be no changing in the dialling pattern for fixed-tomobile, mobile-to-fixed, and mobile-to-mobile calls. Six months should be given to the implement the new numbering scheme.
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The telecom regulatory body also said that Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) system which displays the caller's name should be implemented as soon as possible. This will help in reducing spam communication and cyber-crimes which lead to financial frauds.
TRAI also said in its recommendations that the telcos can't deactivate a number before 90 days of inactivity. Further, if a number remains unsed for 365 days, the telcos must mandatorily deactivate it. TRAI said taht M2M connections which are SIM based should be shifted from 10 digit numbers to 13-digit numbers, this will also help with addressing constraints to numbering resources.
For shortcodes, TRAI said that level-1 shortcodes will be allocated only to government entites and that too for free of charge. The telecom regulatory body has suggested that the telecom department should conduct annual audits for the shotcode usage and usused codes should be withdrawn.
