Despite objections from the industry, the Department of Telecommunications has insisted that telecom operators run proof of concept studies to evaluate how the industry will mandatorily introduce CNAP or Calling Name Presentation on their networks.
In a bid to mitigate the prevalent issue of nuisance calls, spam or scams and restore user trust in telecommunication networks, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), in February, announced recommendations deploying CNAP across telecommunication networks in India. As per TRAI, the persistent mistrust towards unidentified numbers has led to a widespread reluctance to answer calls, causing even legitimate communications to be missed.
Even as the ministry pressures the industry to enforce CNAP on their network, the technological unviability of such a solution has led to pushbacks. Operators maintain that a CNAP solution is not implementable on the 300 million subscriber base particularly as the hardware ecosystem on feature phones does not allow the operator to pair a number with a name for every call on such a device.
Nevertheless, the ministry has asked the operators to complete proof of concept studies on the viability of CNAP within their networks despite repeated objections.
Network capacity
A top executive told businessline that issues exist within the network layer as well, with only Reliance Jio having the network capacity to implement a CNAP. “Jio’s network is an IP-oriented telecom network which allows for this solution. Other operators such as Airtel and Vodafone Idea run a mixture of IP-oriented and circuit switch networks. A circuit switch network does not allow for caller ID presentation,” the executive explained.
Interestingly, public-owned operator BSNL has reportedly told the ministry that they will be unable to offer CNAP on their network. “The telecom service provider’s capacity to implement this service needs to be evaluated. All TSPs need to be at the same level of infrastructure and technological readiness in order to implement the service efficiently and achieve its desired objectives of protecting users from spam and scam calls. BSNL, with over 88.06 million users, has expressed limitations in implementing CNAP. This may affect the efficacy of the initiative, since it will only be helpful if adopted by all TSPs,” an expert told the paper.
Privacy issues
Other issues also exist with the implementation of CNAP. Telcos have highlighted that the mandatory presentation of caller ID will impede the privacy and security of vulnerable groups including women and other marginalised communities. Moreover, the disparate implementation of the solution across populations or telecom networks would allow spam callers and scammers to continue to operate in the status quo and avoid detection.
Given these constraints, operators have insisted that the ministry conduct systematic evaluation of the effectiveness of CNAP. This includes evaluating its impact in certain geographies such as Mewat Haryana, known for such cybercrimes and monitoring the number of calls emerging from cyber crimes before and after the trial. It also suggests conducting a thorough impact check of CNAP on privacy, particularly for women. Lastly, the operators have also told the ministry that the implementation of CNAP can have unintended consequences such as criminals shifting to international numbers and those effects also need to be taken to account while conducting these proof of concept studies.