New Delhi: Mobile tariffs may fall in the coming year, as the telecom regulator TRAI today started review of various intra-operator charges including for calls landing in each other’s network.
Issuing a consultation paper on “Review of Interconnection Usage Charge”, TRAI has sought information from all stakeholders on various charges payable by operators to one another for carriage and termination of domestic and international calls.
The new telecom operators, who are yet to start offering mobile services, had opposed the high rate of termination charge of 30 paise a minute and had demanded that it should be lowered to a maximum ceiling of 10 paise.
Termination charge is money paid by an operator to another on whose network the call ends.
TRAI has, however, maintained that termination charge cannot be reviewed in isolation. The whole of IUC, which comprises Origination, Termination, Carriage and Transit charges, needs to be looked at.
The new telecom players have said that since most of the calls originate from their networks would be terminated on the network of existing players, payment of 30 paise a minute would leave very little scope for them to offer innovative tariff schemes to their subscribers and would also put pressure on their margins.
Even Department of Telecom had indicated that termination charges need to be lowered, as the cost of building up networks has come down considerably over the last 4-5 years.
TRAI would re-look into the methodology for calculation of mobile termination charge and also whether fixed and mobile termination cost caluculation use the same methodology, TRAI said in a statement.
Besides, TRAI would decide whether mobile termination charge be same for all existing and new service providers.
TRAI had last reviewed the IUC regime in 2003 and since then most of the cost parameters of telecom services--be it fixed, mobile or long distance telephony--have changed and need to incorporate revised estimates.
TRAI would also consider new telecom service like 3G, WiMAX and VoIP and their impact on the industry while reviewing the IUC regime.
The regulator had held a pre-consultation meeting with the existing operators and their respective associations during the last three months, and the opinion on methodology and correct level of charges was divided.
In such a scenario, TRAI has decided to carry out detailed consulatation process to arrive at new IUC regime and has asked the operators to submit information by the end of January 2009.