Indian mobiles set to get 11 digit numbers
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Get ready to add one more digit to your already difficult to remember mobile number from January next year. National Numbering Plan 2003 has been amended by Department of Telecommunications (DoT), migrating the current 10 digit numbers to an 11-digit numbering plan in mobile services.
As per the amendment, an extra ‘9′ would be prefixed to the existing two-digit PLMN Access Code. According to an internal DoT note, the proposed migration may be implemented from January 10, 2010.
Earlier, number ‘2′ was prefixed to all BSNL and MTNL fixed-line phones across the country a few years ago to accommodate more connections.
Every service provider has its own PLMN, identified by Mobile Country Code (MCC) and the Mobile Network Code (MNC). The PLAM connects with internet service providers for data and internet access and interconnects with other PlAMs and public switched telephone networks (PSTNs) for telephone communications.
The unexpected growth in India’s mobile subscribers has made this numbering plan imminent. With 10-14 million mobile subscribers added to the list every month, the wireless subscriber base has already crossed 500 million, making it compulsory for DoT to re-examine plans in order to accommodate more subscribers.
News From India: Five-Digit SMS Code Mandatory
All the existing 5- and 6-digit short codes also have to be migrated to 5-digit codes by replacing the first digit or first two digits with ‘5′. In case of disputes, the DoT would be the final authority for the allocation, sources in DoT said.
This would be with immediate effect from the date of a guideline (December 1, 2006) that is being issued by the Ministry of Telecommunications and IT to all operators, telecom companies and content providers. The ministry has begun issuing the guidelines through the licensor, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
However, the government would also be providing a cooling-off period, with the present short code users would be allowed to use their existing short codes for another six months.
The move is to standardise the short-code SMS in the country, and under a clause in the National Numbering Plan 2003 issued by DoT, certain numbers were earmarked for certain services. According to industry analysts, this order could affect over 50 short codes, of which 20 are short-code-based SMS numbers.
Some of the popular short-code-based SMS services include IndiaTimes’ 8888, Dainik Bhaskar’s 7333, Jagran Prakashan’s 7272, Dial Net’s 7777, Rediff’s 7333, Business Standard’s 7007 and Sahara India’s 9090.
