Telephone rentals, call charges may drop

DH News Service
NEW DELHI, Sept 23

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today suggested a review of the basic telephony tariffs in the light of vastly changed market scenario since 1998-99 when the first review of the basic service tariffs was carried out.

A review is also needed due to the fact that the national long distance telephony tariffs have witnessed a downswing in recent times and the NLD and international long distance (ILD) markets have been opened up, TRAI said in a consultation paper released today.

The paper, which suggests possible approaches for regulating basic service tariffs and interconnect usage charges, examines the evolving structure of the basic service market with an analysis of the degree of competition that is likely to arise in the near future.

TRAI said that based on the response received from all concerned, it would review the changes in the basic service tariffs, including the changes due to the introduction of competition in NLD and ILD markets. The respondents have been asked to file their views by October 25.

The issues that will be considered include monthly rentals and call charges apart from a short exposition on the tariffs for dial up access to internet so that Web access spreads to more parts of the country. TRAI will also tackle the Interconnection Usage Charge (IUC) issue vis-à-vis NLD telephony, analysing the estimates prepared for origination, termination and carriage charges of NLD traffic.