Daijiworld Media Network

New Delhi, Feb 21: Those of you who have panicked hearing that your mobile number will turn 13 digits from this July, relax!

The department of telecommunications (DoT) has asked telecom service providers to start issuing 13-digit numbers to M2M which stands for ‘Machine-to-Machine’ and not ‘Mobile-to-Mobile’ as stated in the rumours that is going viral on social media.

M2M services are those where Internet-enabled devices like point-of-sale machines or even latest refrigerators communicate through a SIM card. This decision will not have any effect on mobile phone SIMs.

The DoT had approved the scheme and a letter on it was sent to various departments on February 9, 2018.

The 13-digit M2M numbering plan will be implemented from July 1, 2018. From this date onwards, all new M2M connections will be allocated 13-digit numbers only. Meanwhile, the existing 10 digit M2M connections will continue to co-exist.

Migration of existing 10-digit M2M numbers to 13 digits will start latest by October 1, 20I8 and shall be completed by December 31, 2018, it said.

The suggestion to make M2M numbering 13 digits came from mobile operators, who said that the 10-digit numbering plan may fall short to accommodate billions of machines that would be able to communicate with each other as time progresses.

The rumours started spreading on social media after a letter by Bharat Sanchar Nigam to equipment suppliers ZTE and Nokia written on February 5, went viral. Many mistook M2M to be mobile-to-mobile.