The Hindu Business Line : COAI says it welcomes OneIndia tariff plan

Mr T. V. Ramachandran, Director General of COAI, said that cellular operator have welcomed the Government's initiative to consider the OneIndia tariff. In fact, COAI had requested the Government to set up an implementation committee so that this process could be facilitated smoothly.

COAI said that since telephone tariffs are already the lowest in the world, the need of the hour is to make long distance tariffs affordable.

Mr Ramachandran pointed out that the Government's initiative to introduce a OneIndia inter-circle STD tariff is in full consonance with the long-standing demand of COAI to introduce direct inter-circle connectivity between service areas. The first step in this regard had been taken by the Minister for Communications and IT, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, in May 2005, when he announced inter-service area connectivity in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, a release said.

Mr Ramachandran said that OneIndia is an extension of this step, as it would emanate from allowing every service provider in each service area to terminate the inter-circle calls of all its subscribers through the necessary arrangements.

It was also clarified that the key to the success of One India would be to ensure improved affordability of inter-circle STD tariffs. "For this, it is felt that a number of policy and regulatory initiatives were required such as, review of the interconnection regime to make it more cost reflective, reduction in annual licence fee to 6 per cent, reduction in spectrum usage charges and introduction of a hybrid revenue share ADC (access deficit charge) regime, where the burden on domestic consumers would be minimized, while overseas operators could bear a higher share of the ADC burden," the release said.

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