From 10 to 11

Along with the countdown to the New Year, there is one more countdown
that has also begun. Recently, the href="http://dqindia.ciol.com/content/wifi/2009/109020604.asp">Department
of Telecommunications (DoT)
proposed  transformation of the 10-digit numbers to 11 digits
from January 2010. The shift to 11 digits will be applicable to all
GSM, CDMA users (both new and old). The new numbering plan was
necessitated due to explosive growth in subscriber numbers and an
evaluation by DoT's Technical Engineering Centre (TEC) expecting that
the industry would run out of mobile numbers since the subscriber base
has been expanding by 10-14 million users every month.



DoT has amended the National Numbering Plan 2003 for migration to an
11-digit numbering plan in mobile services by prefixing the number
'9' to the existing two-digit PLMN Access Code.
Every mobile number has three components namely, PLMN code,
MSC code and subscriber number. Now, the regulator wants another digit
to be added to the PLMN code, which, at present, is a two-digit code.
MSC code is a three-digit number, while subscriber number is a five
digit code. A PLMN is identified by the Mobile Country Code (MCC) and
the Mobile Network Code (MNC). Every service provider has its own PLMN,
which interconnects with other PLMNs and public switched telephone
networks (PSTNs) for telephone communications, or with Internet service
providers for data and Internet access.



The currently followed numbering plan was formulated in 2003. This
allowed 750 million telephone connections, comprising an anticipated
300 million basic and 450 million cellular href="http://dqindia.ciol.com/content/cio_handbook2008/2008/108022003.asp">mobile
connections. With India adding over 10-14 million mobile subscribers
each month, the wireless subscriber base has already crossed the 500
million mark and is expected to reach the 1-billion mark by 2014 .
Therefore, DoT had to re-examine plans to accommodate more subscribers
by adding an extra digit that is expected to aid in increasing the
numbering capacity.



However, it remains to be seen if operators would be able to migrate to
the new numbering plan at a short notice. Although the DoT note said
operators need to make necessary arrangements for the migration from
January 1, some operators reported that they are not ready for such an
early migration. However, the telecom vendors said that the task to
transform to 11 digits from January 2010 would be tough as the
development requires lot of technical changes in both software and
mobile network configurations. It is reported that the process will
require about 12 months for a complete smooth transition.

In other words, all that needs to be seen is whether the transformation
to 11 digits will prove useful to the customers or no.