DoT pushes for swift rollout of caller ID service but 2G users will have to wait

Both Airtel and Vi have partnered with Nokia for pan-India deployment of the IP Multimedia Subsystem

Soon, mobile users may no longer have to guess who’s calling. The department of telecommunications (DoT) has directed telecom operators to accelerate trials for a caller name display system—Caller Name Presentation (CNAP)—with plans to roll it out nationwide in phases over the coming months, sources told Moneycontrol. The move is aimed at bolstering efforts to curb cyber fraud.

According to sources, the DoT has asked operators to complete inter-operator CNAP trials and submit a comprehensive report by April 18. Trials are being conducted in Haryana and Maharashtra, with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel having completed their tests. Vodafone Idea (Vi) is expected to begin its trials with Airtel and Jio this week in Ambala, under DoT’s supervision.

While the service will initially benefit 4G and 5G users, 2G subscribers will have to wait longer due to the legacy technology still in use, which requires significant investment to upgrade.

Both Airtel and Vi have partnered with Nokia for pan-India deployment of the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a foundational technology that enables CNAP and related analytics like spam detection and international long-distance (ILD) filtering. “Telcos have taken solutions from players like Nokia, including analytics for spam, CNAP and ILD. It is a combined solution, which is live on both Airtel and Vodafone Idea’s networks,” a person familiar with the matter told Moneycontrol.

Reliance Jio, meanwhile, has developed its own CNAP technology in-house. Unlike Airtel and Vi, Jio’s entire subscriber base is on 4G and 5G.

However, the older network equipment of Airtel and Vi poses challenges. “Both telcos can’t instantly deploy CNAP for all subscribers in India, as it will be available to 4G and 5G users in India to begin with. For 2G, they are waiting for the direction from the DoT as it requires a technology change at the network level, which requires a bigger investment,” another executive said.

Both telcos have raised the issue with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the DoT, pointing out the limitations of their legacy 2G switches—installed before 2015-16—that cannot support the new technology. Due to these hardware and software limitations, the service will not be available to 2G feature phone users.

“Both older telcos are taking different approaches due to different network strategies and combinations of the country's 2G, 4G and 5G subscriber base. Vi has a bigger 2G subscriber base in India,” the second person added.

Additionally, full-scale implementation of CNAP depends on government-mandated sharing of caller databases among telecom operators.

Queries sent to Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio didn’t elicit any response.

The government is pushing for early implementation, viewing CNAP as a vital step in combating the surge in phone-based scams. Officials believe the feature will act as a frontline defense by giving users visibility into callers' identities, especially as fraudsters increasingly impersonate officials or companies to dupe consumers.

The phased rollout approach addresses interoperability issues and ensures seamless integration across networks.

In February, TRAI urged DoT to fast-track CNAP, particularly for enterprises using bulk SIMs, which are often linked to spam and scam calls. The regulator had recommended a trial in a single licensed service area (LSA) across networks before nationwide rollout, prompting the ongoing trials now underway.

Disclosure: Moneycontrol is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.