The Hindu Business Line : Telcos oppose TRAI move to reduce roaming tariff

What they say
Bharti Airtel: We may have to revisit customer tariffs.
BSNL: Enough competition in the mobile sercies sector, no need for ceiling on tariffs.
Reliance Comm: Roaming airtime charges can be reduced further to make it more affordable.

New Delhi , Jan. 1

Mobile operators have opposed the move from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to revise the ceiling of national roaming tariff. In response to the telecom regulator's consultation paper on reviewing roaming tariffs, mobile operators have said that TRAI should not intervene and the pricing should be left to market forces.

"The customer tariffs are already the lowest in the world and consistently coming down, which clearly indicate that the Indian telecom market is mature and guided by the market forces. Any attempt to regulate the tariffs of a small fraction of the overall usage, would force the operators to revisit their customer tariffs, at the higher side, which will affect the masses," said Bharti Airtel.

State owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has also voiced concerns against regulatory intervention.

"The Authority has kept forbearance in mobile tariff keeping in mind that there is enough competition in the mobile service segment. It is felt that there is no need to prescribe any other ceiling tariff for national roaming services."

Reliance Communicationsaid while TRAI should not fix a usage based composite ceiling tariffs for national roaming services, the ceiling tariff on roaming airtime charges can be reduced further to bring in greater affordability to subscribers.

"The ceiling charges for roaming airtime should be reduced to Rs 0.75 per minute," Reliance said.

The regulator had earlier issued a paper, which raised questions on why operators were not reducing airtime tariffs for roaming services. The regulator also indicated that operators could be forming a cartel in keeping the tariffs at the same level for the past few years.

Cellular Operators Association of India has, however, strongly objected to TRAI's comments saying that it was uncalled for. Analysts said that the objection raised was no surprise considering that it would impact their revenues. Operators in Europe were also opposing a similar move from the EC.

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