The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued recommendations on ‘Revision of National Numbering Plan’.
Telecommunication Identifiers (TIs)/numbering resources are used to uniquely identify a telecom user, service, network elements, equipment, or an authorised entity. In today’s interconnected digital landscape, where billions of devices and users are required to be addressed, sufficient availability and efficient utilisation of numbering resources (TIs) are essential for ensuring universal accessibility and reliable delivery of telecommunication services to consumers, businesses, and industries.
Accordingly, TRAI issued a consultation paper on ‘Revision of National Numbering Plan’ on June 6, 2024. The comments and counter-comments received from various stakeholders are available on the TRAI website. In this regard, an Open House Discussion (OHD) was held on October 8, 2024 through video conference.
Based on the comments/ inputs received from the stakeholders during the consultation process, discussions held during OHD, and further analysis of the issues, the TRAI has finalised recommendations on ‘Revision of National Numbering Plan’.
The salient features of the recommendations include:
- Charges on numbering resources
- To address numbering resource constraints in fixed-line services
- Inhibit UCC (Unsolicited Commercial Communication), Spam calls and CLI spoofing
- Timeline for deactivation of numbering resources for mobile and Fixedline connections
- Numbering resources for mobile and machine-to-machine (M2M)
- Other numbering resources -Level-1 shortcodes