The Hindu Business Line : Tribunal stays TRAI order on default STD cell calls

THE Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has stayed the interim arrangement of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for the distribution of all default mobile-to-mobile STD calls between Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Bharti Telesonic Ltd (BTSOL) on alternate days.

The tribunal ruled that during the course of the stay, all default STD calls will be routed through BSNL, as was being done before the entry of BTSOL on January 26.

The next hearing of the case has been fixed for February 8.

The TDSAT order follows a petition filed on Wednesday by BSNL against the TRAI interim arrangement, claiming that it would amount to inequitable distribution of revenues.

"This implies that an operator with limited investment and only 10 or 12 points of presence (POP) is handed over 50 per cent of the traffic, even as BSNL has made huge investments throughout the country to roll out its network," BSNL had said.

BSNL also said that as per the licence conditions for national long-distance operations (NLDO), it was imperative that the choice of long-distance carrier was provided to the consumer.

In addition, it said that with regard to the default carrier, TRAI had not yet formulated its stand on the subject and had suggested an interim measure that was not practical for implementation and could not be monitored.

According to analysts, a stay on the interim arrangement would bring Bharti's NLD services to a near standstill.

Consumers are still not used to the carrier access code to be dialled to avail themselves of the services in select cities. A lot of preparation is required for ensuring that the Carrier Access Code (CAC) regime is implemented.

This includes software and hardware modifications in the basic operators' equipment and educating the subscribers which is likely to take quite some time.

Besides, the company was yet to reach interconnect agreements with all the cellular operators for routing their mobile-to-mobile STD calls, they added.

However, in an official statement, Bharti said that the TDSAT decision was in its favour.

"It will allow the operators to choose their long-distance operators rather than be mandated to distribute the traffic on an equal basis on alternate days. We also look forward to speedy implementation of the CAC regime for both the long-distance operators to offer the consumer a choice.''

It added that the company would continue its operations. "We reaffirm our commitment to offer the customer true value and a choice.''

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