If you find it a herculean task to recall remember the mobile phone numbers, you are in for more trouble as cellphone numbers in India may soon get an extra digit. Department of Telecom (DoT) is considering an 11-digit numbering system since the 10-digit numbering system may soon be exhausted given the unprecedented growth in cellphone market and users in the country.
Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) which is the technical arm of DoT, has forwarded a plan to government in this regard. In 2003, the DoT had envisaged that the current numbering system will be sufficient for next 30 years. However, the growth of mobile users in the country has defied all the estimations. The approximate base limit of 10 digit numbers is 450 million subscribers, which is likely to get exhausted as soon as by early next year. The subscriber base, by the end of February, was around 376 million.
Implementing the new 11 digit numbering system for handsets will not be as difficult as it sounds. Either a digit will be prefixed of a new digit will be suffixed to the existing numbers. What is more, there will no requirement of changes at hardware level as the change will be implemented in software and it will take a few months for the changes to be in place.
Currently, China and UK use the 11 digit numbers for mobile phones. source
Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) which is the technical arm of DoT, has forwarded a plan to government in this regard. In 2003, the DoT had envisaged that the current numbering system will be sufficient for next 30 years. However, the growth of mobile users in the country has defied all the estimations. The approximate base limit of 10 digit numbers is 450 million subscribers, which is likely to get exhausted as soon as by early next year. The subscriber base, by the end of February, was around 376 million.
Implementing the new 11 digit numbering system for handsets will not be as difficult as it sounds. Either a digit will be prefixed of a new digit will be suffixed to the existing numbers. What is more, there will no requirement of changes at hardware level as the change will be implemented in software and it will take a few months for the changes to be in place.
Currently, China and UK use the 11 digit numbers for mobile phones. source
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