The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), comprising telcos such as Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vi (formerly Vodafone Idea), has opposed the government’s plan to display caller ID when a user receives a call. The body said that the recommended “Calling Name Presentation” (CNAP) should not be made mandatory, but telcos are free to implement the tech if they want. This comes nearly two months after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released a consultation paper, “Introduction of Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) in Telecommunication Networks.” Through the paper, TRAI sought replies from telecom operators in India on displaying called ID when users receive a call, potentially ending the need to download call identification apps like Truecaller.
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According to PTI, COAI unanimously believes that “CNAP should not be mandatory and should be optional for the telecom service providers.”
Citing Jio’s reply, the report notes that “CNAP facilities are good to have supplementary VAS service.” The company also claims that tech will not work on all mobile phones, adding that there will be many technical issues like an increased load on signalling and possible impact on latency and interconnection-related issues. It essentially means that many Indian users still use 2G and 3G feature phones where the CNAP won’t function. Jio says that “a cautious approach is recommended.”
The Economic Times, citing Vi, says that the telco echoed Jio’s views and stated that the caller ID feature is an LTE feature and there are no standards for its implementation over 2G and 3G networks. The same report points out that Jio and Airtel pointed out privacy-related issues with CNAP.
Jio said, “There are privacy-related concerns with mandatory activation of the CNAP service on every device.” Lastly, telcos believe that the recommended caller ID feature will not function on landline phones and that “mandatory activation is a moot point and should be avoided.”
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As of September 30, 2022, India had the world’s second-largest telecommunications market, with 114.55 crore wireless and 2.65 crore wireline subscribers. While most wireless phones and telcos provide Calling Line Identification Presentation support that allows phone numbers to be displayed on the phone, TRAI believes that there are a sizeable number of concerns related to robocalls, spam calls, and fraudulent calls. Despite telco’s measures, users still receive spam and fraudulent calls that affect their experience.
There are third-party apps such as Truecaller and Bharat Caller ID & Anti-spam, but TRAI explored the feasibility of implementing CNAP.
