There was a talk before of the 10 digit numbers being exhausted and a new DoT directive which aimed at adding an additional 9 to mobile numbers thereby making the mobile numbers into 11 digit numbers. But as news has it the current 10-digit format would stay but instead of adding another 9 DoT would open up digits 2 to 9 for mobile numbers. As one would know currently large no of mobile numbers start with 9 and some with 8. So soon one would need to get ready for numbers that read 2984734933 or 3453539534.
So while its good news as far as mobiles is concerned its bad news for the landlines as the 40 million odd landlines could convert from the existing 8 digits to 10 digits if DoT has their way.
As per this report a consultation paper will be launched by Trai to take feedback on this issue before the proposal is implemented.
“If we open up all levels, say from digits 2-9, this will provide us with a further 8 billion mobile numbers. The Indian population will never exceed 1.5 billion and therefore this pool of numbers will never ever be exhausted,” the Trai official told ET
Countries like US and even the middle east have the same digits when it comes to both landline and mobile numbers so it seems very likely that Trai and the regulatory bodies in India would solve the issue of mobile numbers by moving the landlines to the 10 digit code rather than mobiles moving to 11 digits.
Whats your take on this? 10 digit landline numbers? or 11 digit mobile numbers?
