CNAP Caller ID Service Trials for Mobile Phones Started in India

The problem of spam calls has increased rapidly in the last few years. The central government had instructed telecom companies to curb this. To deal with spam calls, telecom companies have started trial of caller ID service in some regions. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Telecom Department (DoT) have put pressure on these companies to implement the Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) feature. This can make it easier to stop fake and spam calls.

If this feature is fully implemented in the country, then customers will not need third-party caller identification apps. Ek Media Report It has been reported that telecom companies have started trialling the CNAP caller ID display service. Earlier, TRAI had asked to implement CNAP for all mobile phones in the country. However, there was some opposition from telecom companies. The report says that limited testing of CNAP is being done in Mumbai and Haryana. It is not known which telecom companies are trialling this service.

Both Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel had warned against implementing CNAP. Bharti Airtel said that it may also require compliance with privacy laws. Reliance Jio TRAI had warned that this would increase the load on signaling and cause problems related to interconnection. TRAI also said that telecom companies should make a list of names and phone numbers of customers so that it will be easy to use this service.

When the CNAP caller ID service is implemented, users will be able to see the caller’s full name along with the phone number on their mobile phones. This will reduce spam and scam calls. One problem in implementing this service on all mobile phones is the ability of handset manufacturers and software providers to access caller information on a large scale. Reliance Jio and Airtel had suggested that customers should have the option to opt for CNAP and it should be made mandatory for commercial and telemarketing numbers.