Telcos plan tring sting: Spammers & scammers to be named & blamed

New Delhi: Many mobile phone users will now begin to see the names of unknown callers on their smartphone screens, as telecom operators have commenced trials for the calling name presentation (CNAP) service in the Haryana and Himachal circles.

The move to compulsorily display the caller's name, not just the number, for incoming calls is meant to curb spam and scam calls. This is expected to minimise incidents of impersonation, wherein callers use fake names or claim to be calling on behalf of some other entity.

While Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and state-run BSNL are carrying out the trials from Haryana, Bharti Airtel is testing the service from Himachal Pradesh.

During the trials, the caller's name will be displayed only if the person has taken the mobile connection from one of these telecom circles. For instance, if a user obtains a mobile connection from Haryana or Himachal Pradesh and calls a person anywhere in the country, the caller's name will appear on the recipient's screen if the number is not saved.

Hurry for the Service

The service, which uses information of the caller from the customer acquisition form submitted at the time of taking the connection, will be implemented as a default feature for all users.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had asked all telecom operators to commence the proof of concept process, or trials, before launching the CNAP service nationwide.

The service won’t include landline numbers or where the caller is using a feature phone on a 2G network. “Landline numbers will be included after the data is integrated,” an executive at one of the telecom firms said on the condition of anonymity.

Telcos did not immediately comment.

DoT has been pushing the telcos to implement the CNAP service at the earliest and depending on the trials, the service can be rolled out nationally by March-April next year, according to industry executives. But technological constraints have prevented the implementation of the service on 2G networks, according to telcos.