New 13-Digit Mobile Number To Be Launched In India Soon

Mobile phones are a necessity these days. So one cannot assume life without it. Since it has all the important contacts. Along with information that helps us and makes our life easier. The Department of Telecom (DoT) had reportedly issued a directive to all the telecom operators in India, asking them to start issuing 13-digit mobile numbers to customers recently.

News confirmed by a senior BSNL official who said that the directive from DoT had come on January 8, 2018. Post which the companies have started working on it. The decision taken to provide better security features to users in the future.

The existing mobile users’ numbers ported to 13-digits starting from October 1, 2018. Hence the last date to complete the process would be until December 31, 2018. “Hence decided 13-digit M2M (Machine-to-machine) numbering plan yet to get implemented from July 1, 2018. From this date onwards, all new M2M mobile connections shall get allocated 13-digit numbers. Migration of existing 10-digit M2M numbers might start latest by 1 October 2018.  However to complete within 31 December 2018,”. If the decision is implemented, India will become the country with the longest mobile numbers, with China the only country at scale with 11 digit mobile numbers, without counting the area code. Apart from this, only French ‘regions’ of Gaudeloupe, Martinique and Reunion have longer numbers as well.

M2M:

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Communication in a letter written to TRAI has reportedly said that ’13-digit numbering scheme approved for SIM-based M2M devices’. So a M2M sim is actually the technology which enables devices and sensors or devices to communicate with each other and with other Internet-enabled devices and systems.

However, the problem with a 13-digit number is that it would be virtually impossible for a person to remember it. Possibly leading to massive dislocations across the business processes like banks. Moreover, there are about a billion active mobile users in India. And given that they had recently completed the process of linking their Aadhaar card. This might lead to some more confusion and chaos.