You will have to dial '0' before making landline to mobile calls from 15 Jan
There will be no change in dialling plan from fixed-to-fixed, mobile-to-fixed and mobile-to-mobile calls, DoT clarified A total of approximately 2,539 million numbering series is expected to be generated from the above
Callers will now be required to add the '0' prefix for making calls from landlines to mobile phones in the country from 15 January, confirmed Department of Telecommunications on Wednesday.
The telecom department has been asking telcos to make necessary arrangements by January 1 to implement the new system. The decision comes to free up sufficient numbering resources for future use.
With the consideration of TRAI Recommendation on “Ensuring Adequate Numbering Resources for Fixed Line and Mobile Services" DoT has decided against implementing the following:
-All Fixed-to mobile calls will be dialed with prefix ‘0’ from 15th January 2021.
-There will be no change in the dialing plan from fixed-to-fixed, mobile-to-fixed, and mobile-to-mobile calls.
-Suitable announcement will be made for the same. This announcement shall be played whenever a subscriber dials a fixed to mobile call without prefixing ‘0’.
-All fixed-line subscribers will be provided with a ‘0’ dialing facility.
"A total of approximately 2,539 million numbering series is expected to be generated from the above. This will free up sufficient numbering resources for future use," the telecom ministry said in a statement.
With the freeing up of sufficient numbering resources, more connections can be added in the future which will be beneficial to the mobile customers at large.
The above changes have been done to have minimum inconvenience to the subscribers and freeing up essential numbering resources, the statement added.
DoT in a circular on `modification of dialing pattern from fixed line numbers to cellular mobile numbers' said to ensure adequate numbering resources for fixed-line and mobile services, Trai's recommendations dated May 29, 2020, have been accepted by the Department.
"Following may be implemented...Fixed-to-mobile calls shall be dialed with the prefix '0'. The suitable announcement may be fed in the fixed-line switches to appraise the fixed-line subscribers about the requirement of dialing the prefix '0' for all fixed-to-mobile calls," DoT said in a circular dated November 20.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in May this year had recommended dialing the prefix '0' for a call from a fixed-line number to a mobile number.
The regulator had, however, stated that the introduction of a dialing prefix for a particular type of call is not akin to increasing the number of digits in the telephone number.
Source: LiveMint
