Plan to display caller name hits tech wall
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had in February asked telcos to ensure a calling name presentation (CNAP) service on mobile phones, a move aimed at combating spam and scam calls.
But senior executives of mobile phone operators and handset companies said the proposed service is almost impossible to implement nationally as it won't work on 2G/3G networks unless huge sums are spent on network upgrades. And that is economically unviable, given the low revenue generation from 2G users.
This means the service cannot be offered to 270-300 million 2G users. In fact, only smartphones that have come into the market after 2021 are likely to support the CNAP feature, they added.
Executives added that even integrating the CNAP feature in 4G-5G smartphones would lead to a longer call-setup time, potentially spoiling customers' overall call experience.
«Trai appears to have prematurely recommended the CNAP functionality on all mobiles by ignoring ground realities...this technology is not a universal solution, it doesn't work on 2G/3G networks now and can't be supported by feature phones either, which means it can only be offered selectively on 4G/5G networks, potentially depriving millions of 2G users across India of this service,» a senior executive of a Big 3 telco told ET.
In February, Trai had called on the government to mandate telcos to implement the CNAP service and even push handset OEMs to enable the feature in six months in a bid to reduce customer harassment from unknown/spam callers.
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