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Our Bureau

New Delhi, Aug. 20 Consumers could soon get to choose their long distance telephone operators but they will have to plan in advance. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Wednesday suggested allowing consumers to buy calling cards directly from the STD and ISD operators in the country. At present, consumers do not have the freedom to choose the long distance operator. The long distance operator is chosen by the access provider (cellular and fixed line telephone operators). If TRAI’s suggestion is accepted by the Government, then long distance operators will be able to sell their cards directly to consumers. So an Airtel mobile subscriber will be able to use BSNL’s calling card for making long distance calls.

However, the telecom regulator has scrapped its earlier direction for introducing carrier access codes. CAC is a system whereby every long distance operator is given a unique identity number. Subscribers can choose the long distance operator by prefixing the code allocated to that particular service provider.

For instance, a Bharti mobile phone user making an STD call from Delhi to Mumbai can choose to route it through Reliance Infocomm or Tata Teleservices’ long-distance network. However, operators are opposed to introducing this system on the grounds that it is expensive to implement.

Compared to CAC, calling cards do not offer complete choice to consumers. CAC would have been useful even for those subscribers who make STD and ISD calls once in a while. Carrier selection would have also enabled consumers to change their long distance service provider for each call. On the other hand, a calling card limits the benefit to those consumers who know in advance that they will make a lot of long distance calls in a month. It also makes it difficult for the consumer to change their long distance operator quickly as they would prefer to finish the value of the calling card before purchasing another one from a different operator.

TRAI said that it has decided to scrap CAC based on the feedback from telecom players. It said that the money and effort required to implement this system could be used for something else.

“A majority of the stakeholders were of the opinion that the traditional method of carrier selection was not relevant in the current scenario because of high implementation cost, poor cost-benefit outlook, sufficient competition already having been established in the market and technical and operational issues with implementation of carrier selection. A popular opinion among the stakeholders was that implementation of carrier selection through calling cards is a good option for both consumers and service providers. They argued that the prime purpose of providing choice of long distance operators and any consequential financial benefit to the consumer may also be achieved, without the accompanying problems, by allowing long distance operators to issue calling cards,” TRAI said.

The final decision on this proposal will be taken by the Department of Telecommunications.

More Stories on : Regulatory Bodies & Rulings | Telecommunications

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