There were days when phone directories were a must for all homes but for past few years they have vanished like anything, reason being the exponential growth of mobiles phones and absence of mobile number information in such directories. It seems that the days of phone directories are back, Department of telecom (DoT) has approved national integrated directory services (NIDQS) for mobile and Landline phones. This means that there will be a single converged directory containing the numbers of mobile and fixed landline users. However instead of the hard copy the directory will be accessible via internet, sms and over phone by dialing a 5 digit number which will guide user in searching a particular number.
In 2008 TRAI recommended to make a converged phone directory for Mobile and wireline users which has been accepted by DOT after a long wait. However there is one exception that instead of multiple service providers ,only one will be providing the directory services for the whole nation.
Some key points that need to be kept in mind are:
- Only one provider will be providing the directory services all over India via sms, website and voice response system.
- In this all Fixed lines subscribers except the ones who ‘opted-out’ of registering and only mobile subscribers who ‘opted-in’ for registration will be listed.
- Tariff for using this service will be decided by the service provider after a review from TRAI.
Obviously service like this can come to great use but allowing only one provider to support this service will bring a lot of monopoly and it may overcharge and exploit the service as a database like this can be a goldmine for any organization jumping into market.
