The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has directed telecom operators to roll out the Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) service — a caller name display feature — as a pilot project in at least one telecom circle within a week, marking the first step toward its national deployment.
The DoT has separately informed the telecom regulator that operators have successfully completed trials of the Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) service for 4G and newer networks, paving the way for its immediate rollout.
Sources told Moneycontrol that the government has given operators seven days to begin the pilot, which will run for about 60 days.
During this period, the caller’s name — drawn from the details in the Customer Application Form (CAF) — will appear on the recipient’s phone screen. The move aims to help users identify unknown callers, avoid spam and fraudulent calls, and make the telecom ecosystem more transparent.
Operators free to choose pilot circle
Telecom companies can choose any state or region for the pilot, according to DoT’s instructions. They must also submit weekly progress reports to the department during the two-month trial. The DoT will review these updates to identify and resolve any technical or network-related challenges before the feature’s broader rollout.
If the pilot proves successful, the CNAP service will be expanded nationwide.
Feature ready for 4G rollout
The CNAP system has already completed successful inter-operator trials for 4G and newer networks. Tests were conducted in Haryana and Maharashtra, with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel completing their trials earlier. Vodafone Idea (Vi) also ran tests with Jio and Airtel in Ambala this month under DoT supervision, Moneycontrol reported on April 15.
While the feature will initially benefit 4G and 5G users, nearly 200 million subscribers on legacy 2G networks will not be able to access the service.
The DoT, in a letter to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) last month, said the absence of compatible software patches and upgrades makes implementation on circuit-switched 2G networks technically infeasible.
“Due to a multi-technology, multi-vendor environment and legacy network, TSPs reported non-availability of software patches and other technical upgrades required for implementation of CNAP service in circuit-switched networks,” DoT said.
Both Airtel and Vodafone Idea have partnered with Nokia to deploy the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) platform nationwide — a key enabler for CNAP, spam analytics, and international call filtering. They have taken solutions from players like Nokia, including analytics for spam, CNAP and ILD. It’s a combined solution, live on both Airtel and Vodafone Idea’s networks.
Reliance Jio, meanwhile, has built its CNAP technology in-house. Since Jio operates entirely on 4G and 5G, it is better positioned to deploy the feature quickly.
However, Airtel and Vi continue to face challenges due to older 2G infrastructure. Both telcos can’t instantly deploy CNAP for all subscribers as it will initially be limited to 4G and 5G users. For 2G, they’re waiting for DoT’s direction since it requires network-level technology changes and significant investment, an industry executive told Moneycontrol.
Both Airtel and Vodafone Idea previously raised the issue with Trai and DoT, highlighting that their legacy 2G switches — installed before 2015–16 — cannot support CNAP. As a result, the service will not be available to 2G feature phone users in the near term.
The department has decided that CNAP will be activated by default for all users, though subscribers will have the option to disable it.
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