If you happen to come across a mobile number starting with ‘8’, don’t mistake it for a typo. The department of telecommunications (DoT) has allowed four service providers to allot 10-digit numbers starting with ‘8’.
Reason: A swelling subscriber pool and an increasing number of service providers. Almost 15 years after mobile telephony came to India, the number of subscribers crossed 441 million in August-end, and is growing by 14 to 15 million every month.
Pre-empting a crunch, the DoT has allowed Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices and Reliance-ADAG (for CDMA and GSM services) to allot numbers beginning with ‘8’. Tata Teleservices has been given permission for the Mumbai circle.
There is no specific timeframe for the launch of the ‘8’ series. Having been given the go-ahead by DoT, operators can kickstart the new numbers at individual discretion. Last week, the ADAG group announced that its new GSM subscribers in Delhi and NCR region will get numbers starting with ‘8’.
In a 10-digit mobile number, the first two numbers refer to the access
code, the next three to the mobile switching centre (MSC) code, and the last five to the subscriber’s number.
Before allowing mobile numbers starting with ‘8’, the government was considering 11-digit numbers. But after discussions with telecos, the DoT formulated a framework that would cause minimum disturbance to existing mobile phone users.
As per international norms, every mobile phone number in the country should have uniform number of digits. If it is to be an 11-digit format, all mobile numbers, irrespective of operator, will have to follow the same model.
In India, the first numbering plan was announced in 1993 when mobile telephony was yet to begin. In 2003, a fresh plan was formulated but no one knew then that the country will witness a phenomenal growth of 14 million to 15 million mobile subscribers every month.
India is not the only country to have changed mobile numbers because of increasing number of subscribers and new telcos entering the market. China and the UK are among the other countries to have done it.
The US is believed to have handled the problem better as it follows an integrated numbering plan for landline and mobile phones.
