Number change will push up Mumbai phone capacity

Friday, 08 November 2002, 20:30 IST
Printer Print Email Email
MUMBAI: Telecommunication companies in India's commercial capital would be able to supply up to 70 million telephones when a countrywide change in numbers goes into effect beginning Sunday. Mumbai will be the first city in the country to have an eighth digit added to its numbers, permitting a ten fold increase in the telephone handling capacity here. Delhi will be next in line when the change comes into effect there from December 5, said officials of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), the public sector company that handles 90 percent of telephone connections in the two cities. Both cities have seven digit telephone numbers that will be increased to eight. All phones provided by MTNL in Mumbai and Delhi will begin with the digit '2'. In other cities that have six digit numbers, another digit would be added as a prefix. The countrywide number change will be complete some time in 2003, according to telephone company officials. "In places like Mumbai and Delhi, we will reach near saturation points when private players like Reliance come in," said an MTNL official. It is estimated that phone numbers in the two metropolises would remain constant for the next 15 years. Phone numbers were last changed in Mumbai in the 1980s when the network migrated from a six digit to a seven digit system. While the switch for MTNL subscribers is relatively painless with just '2' added to their existing numbers, subscribers to the private Hughes Telecom network will face tough times. Hughes subscribers have been given 10 different sets of numbers. "I am busy reprinting stickers with my new numbers for my potential clients," says Ashok Vassanji, who runs a small courier service in Borivli, north Mumbai. Vassanji, who traded in his MTNL line for a Hughes line, is giving away these stickers through his delivery boys so that clients can refer to his number easily. Both MTNL and Hughes have set up helplines so subscribers do not miss out on important calls. They will also publicize the new numbers when the bills for the current month are sent out. Both companies are also planning to send out alerts through SMS messages on mobile phones to subscribers. The numbers of MTNL's mobile service, Garuda, will also change from seven to eight digits. Newspapers affected by a severe shortfall in advertising revenues have seized this chance to make money. Several publications have brought out packages for corporates who want to publish their new telephone numbers.
Source: IANS