Trai : Landline, mobile tariffs set to fall

NEW DELHI: Landline and mobile tariffs are set to fall as telecom regulator Trai announced a cut in charges that companies pay to terminate calls on competing networks. The move will particularly benefit users of fixed-line phones, who may soon get major benefits in terms of free monthly calls and minutes.

While the termination charge from fixed-line phones has been reduced from 20 paise per minute to zero, in case of mobile phones it has been slashed by 30% to 14 paise from 20 paise per minute.

BSNL, the largest fixed-line provider in the country, said tariffs will fall “substantially”, while smaller mobile operators like Uninor said customers “will benefit” from the measure.

Officials from Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular — the country’s top three mobile telecom providers — did not comment on the development, saying they are “studying” the measure. These operators had opposed the reduction in termination charge during deliberations with Trai earlier as they enjoy maximum termination of calls on their networks due to large subscriber holdings.

However, smaller operators are happy with Trai’s decision. “This offers a level-playing field for new operators… (and) will give more flexibility to tariff planning and directly benefit consumers,” a spokesperson for Uninor, controlled by Norwegian telecom giant Telenor, said.

Arvind Kumar, advisor at Trai, said the measure is expected to give a boost to the usage of fixed-line telephony, which has been facing a major slowdown due to high growth in wireless phones. “This move will help fixed-line players like BSNL and MTNL to utilize their idle capacities and launch innovative plans. Also, their costs will come down.”

However, according to telecom analysts, bigger operators are expected to follow suit when smaller players start cutting tariffs

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Source:Timesofindia