13 digit mobile numbers in India
Written by : SMTV24x7 | Wed, Feb 21, 2018, 04:11 PM
New Delhi, Feb 21: The Department of Telecom (DoT) has issued instructions to all telecom operators to start using 13 digit mobile numbers for all existing Machine-to-Machine (M2M) customers from October onward.
The important bit to note here is that the 13-digit move won't change your existing number or affect the phone users in India. The 13-digit numbers are meant only for M2M (machine2machine) SIM cards, or in other words the cards that will be used in automated machines.
The Department of Telecom has written to telecom companies that they should issue only 13-digit M2M numbers and that they should convert all the existing 10-digit M2M numbers into 13-digit numbers from October 1, 2018, onwards. The deadline to complete the conversion is December 31, 2018.
With this implementation, Indians will possibly have the longest mobile numbers in the world. Neighbouring China has 11-digit mobile numbers, excluding the area code, while French regions of Gaudeloupe, Martinique and Reunion have longer numbers, reports added.