Mobile madness: Trai to give your number to all

Unless they have a sudden change of heart, operators will oppose the directory idea tooth and nail. Even some consumer groups have been arguing that such a directory will only increase nuisance calls from telemarketing firms.

Trai’s argument is that EU countries already have mobile phone directories. The US and Malaysia are moving towards this.

In India, printed telephone directory is available only for fixed line subscribers of BSNL and MTNL. Private operators have been dragging their feet over mandatory printing of directories.

Cellular mobile licences provide for publication of printed telephone directories. But no service providers published one. Reason: mobile customers are disinterested.

Trai’s counter: things have changed after the receiving party pays (RPP) regime changed. ‘‘Now there should not be any restraint from cellular operators as the calling party pays (CPP) regime is in place,’’ a Trai official argued. Leading mobile service providers and COAI refused to comment.

But, if any subscriber does not want his name in the directory, the service provider can exclude it, ‘‘after obtaining concurrence of the subscriber in writing,’’ the paper states. As pre-paid customers are likely to remain with a service provider for a short time, they may only be included in the online directory.