Cyprus telecommunications authority Cyta will conduct studies “in due course” to evaluate the need and viability of a service that would display both the phone number and identity of callers on phone screens.
Similar practices have been implemented in other countries to protect customers from unwanted intrusions into their private lives.
Finance Minister Makis Keravnos made these remarks in response to a parliamentary question from AKEL MP Andros Kyprianou.
In his response, Keravnos noted that whilst developing a caller identity display service has not been prioritised in Cyta’s regular market research, the authority may include a technical and financial feasibility study in future planning.
This would assess the investment needed to achieve the required technical network readiness as part of efforts to enhance privacy protection.
He added that “for meaningful impact, the service would need to be offered by all providers in Cyprus, requiring the adoption of a shared, reliable database. In any case, the service’s effectiveness would be limited to subscription services, as implementation for prepaid mobile services, which constitute 30 per cent of mobile connections in the market, is particularly challenging”.
The minister pointed out that Cyta already offers Caller ID functionality, allowing customers to see incoming phone numbers from all calls originating from its subscribers, as part of its customer protection measures.
In its briefing to the finance minister, Cyta emphasised its commitment to protecting customers’ privacy through various existing services.
These include Safeweb for enhanced internet browsing security, Safe Internet specialising in protecting children from illegal and unwanted online content, and email protection against viruses and spam.
The authority noted that these three services are provided free of charge to all Cyta customers to encourage widespread adoption.
