In India, mobile numbers (including pagers) on GSM, WCDMA, LTE and NR networks start with either 9, 8, 7 or 6. Each telecom circle is allowed to have multiple private operators; previously it was two private + BSNL/MTNL, subsequently it changed to three private + BSNL/MTNL in GSM; however currently each telecom circle has all four operators including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and BSNL/MTNL.
All mobile phone numbers are 10 digits long. The way to split the numbers is defined in the National Numbering Plan as XXXXX-NNNNN. Here, XXXXX identifies the network operator and the telecom circle while NNNNN identifies the subscriber. While 'XXXXX' used to be network operator identification. Due to Mobile number portability XXXXX-NNNNN no longer a good way to split. Instead XXXX-NNN-NNN is a better format. Where XXXX represents the geographic location and NNN-NNN represents the subscriber number. This split of XXXX-NNN-NNN offers better readability.
Telecom circles
The Department of Telecommunications has divided India into various telecom circles such that within each circle, the call is treated as a local call, while across zones, it becomes a long-distance call. As of July 2018 there are 22 telecom circles or service areas. They are classified into four categories: Metro, A, B, C. Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata fall under Metro category.
A telecom circle is normally the entire state, with a few exceptions like Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata (which are different zones than their respective states), Goa (which is a part of the Maharashtra zone), Chhattisgarh (which is part of Madhya Pradesh), Sikkim (which is part of West Bengal) Jharkhand (which is a part of the Bihar zone), Northeastern states except Assam and Sikkim (which are part of Northeast zone) or Uttar Pradesh (divided into east and west zones). Delhi is a unique circle because it includes cities from Haryana (Gurgaon and Faridabad) and Uttar Pradesh (Noida and Ghaziabad) as well. The new state of Telangana remains in the same circle as Andhra Pradesh.
From May 20, 2005, calls between Mumbai Metro and Maharashtra Telecom Circle, between Chennai Metro and Tamil Nadu Telecom Circle, and between Uttar Pradesh (East) and Uttar Pradesh (West) Telecom Circle service areas are merged in Inter service area connected in the above-mentioned four states would be treated as intra-service area call for the purposes of routing as well as Access Deficit Charges (ADC). The dialing procedure for calls within a state for these states would also be simplified, i.e. dialing of mobile-to mobile subscribers and fixed-to-mobile subscribers would be without prefixing '0'.DoT Notice
In December 2017, Reliance Jio started with the newest of all, "the six-series-mobile numbers", keeping in mind the growing number of users in India.Recently ,5G users are rapidly replacing 4G ones, making it the 2nd after 4G with about 400 million subscribers. Although 4G still has a larger base than 5G,reaserchers think that the total number of 5G subscribers will rise to 1 Billion by 2030 as 4G subscribers are also decreasing as years pass.
Circle nameCodeCategoryGeographic area(s) coveredAndhra PradeshAPAState of Andhra Pradesh, State of Telangana and Yanam district AssamASCState of AssamBihar & JharkhandBRCState of Bihar and State of Jharkhand ChennaiCHMetroChennai, upto Maraimalai Nagar, Minjur and MahabalipuramDelhiDLMetroUnion Territory of Delhi, Faridabad district and Gurgaon district in Haryana, Ghaziabad district and Gautam Buddh Nagar district in Uttar PradeshGujaratGJAState of Gujarat and Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and DiuHimachal PradeshHPCState of Himachal PradeshHaryanaHRBState of Haryana (excluding Faridabad district, Gurgaon district and Panchkula district).Jammu and KashmirJKCUnion Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of LadakhKerala & LakshadweepKLBState of Kerala, Union Territory of Lakshadweep and Mahé districtKarnatakaKAAState of KarnatakaKolkataKOMetroKolkata (including parts of Howrah district, Hooghly district, North 24 Parganas district, South 24 Parganas district and Nadia district)Maharashtra & GoaMHAState of Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan) and State of GoaMadhya Pradesh & ChhattisgarhMPBState of Madhya Pradesh and State of ChhattisgarhMumbaiMUMetroMumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and KalyanNorth EastNECState of Arunachal Pradesh, State of Manipur State of Meghalaya, State of Mizoram, State of Nagaland and State of TripuraOdishaORCState of OdishaPunjabPBBState of Punjab, Union Territory of Chandigarh and Panchkula districtRajasthanRJBState of RajasthanTamil NaduTNAState of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry district and Karaikal districtUP (East)UEBEastern Uttar Pradesh UP (West)UWBWestern Uttar Pradesh (excluding Ghaziabad district and Gautam Buddh Nagar district) and State of UttarakhandWest BengalWBCState of West Bengal (excluding Kolkata), State of Sikkim and Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Network operators
+Network operators AT Airtel India CG BSNL/MTNL - Central Gov. RJ Reliance Jio VI Vodafone Idea
Note: The mobile numbers and operators are subject to change since Mobile number portability is available in most circles.
Note: Chennai circle was merged with Tamil Nadu circle in 2005.
Call No Series