DoT Urges Telecom Operators to Accelerate Caller ID Display Trials
In an effort to reduce the growing number of cyberfraud cases, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has apparently requested that telecom carriers speed up testing for the caller ID display system.
The caller’s name presentation (CNAP) would be implemented gradually over the next few months, according to a Moneycontrol story that cited sources. Telecom providers have been instructed by the DoT to complete inter-operator CNAP testing and turn in the report by April 18.
Moneycontrol was informed by sources that trials are taking place in Maharashtra and Haryana. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have finished their tests, while Vodafone Idea hopes to start its trials this week under the watchful eye of the telecom department. Due to the substantial expenditure needed for network upgrades, 2G customers may encounter a delay in access, while 4G and 5G users will first be the ones to receive the services.
The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a technology that allows CNAP and associated analytics like spam detection and international long-distance (ILD) filtering, has been deployed countrywide by Airtel and Vi in partnership with Nokia, according to the report.
“Telcos have taken solutions from players like Nokia, including analytics for spam, CNAP and ILD. It is a combined solution, which is live on both Airtel and Vodafone Idea’s networks,” a source told Moneycontrol. Notably, Reliance Jio has developed its own CNAP technology-in house as its entire subscriber base is on 4G and 5G.
Given the limitation of legacy 2G switches that can’t support the new technology, Airtel and Vi have raised the issue with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the DoT. The limitations are coming in the way of new service availability for 2G phone users. It is pertinent to note that full scale implementation of CNAP relies on government-mandated sharing of caller databases among telecom operators, it said.
The development comes after the DoT in January asked telecom operators to introduce caller ID features on mobile phones to keep spams in check. At that time, the telco industry raised concerns over user’s privacy with the rollout of the service.
Besides, DoT is also planning to launch the second phase of a centralised system soon to block international spoofed calls, as reported in October last year. The system will be rolled out to keep an eye on curbing the growing number of incidents involving fake threats of mobile disconnection and arrests, and impersonation of government officials, said DoT. In an effort towards curbing spam calls, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is also looking to launch an updated version of its do not disturb (DND) app to provide some relief to smartphone users.
It was reported in October last year that TRAI will likely finalise tighter and updated regulations on curbing spam calls and messages by January, after it directed telecom operators to blacklist 50 entities for spamming end users.
#inc42 #Modernstartupindia #entrepreneur #smallbusiness #startuplife
#indianstarups
