• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Dec. 12 The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Friday said that it was looking to move towards a tariff regime where mobile operators charge on a per second basis instead of the current practice of charging every minute.

If this is implemented it will result in huge savings for mobile users who currently have to pay for an entire minute even if they talked for just 30 seconds. All the operators at present charge on a per minute basis, which means that each time a user dials he will have to necessarily pay for the entire minute. This system of charging proves to be particularly expensive given the number of times the call drops specially in metros such as Delhi and Mumbai.

The telecom regulator said that though mobile tariffs are under forbearance it will have to look at a per second pulse rate due to the operators not addressing the issue of calls dropping. “Consumers must get what they pay for. Given the frequent call drops we should perhaps have per second based pricing,” said Mr Nripendra Misra, Chairman, TRAI, on the sidelines of the India Telecom Summit 2008.

Mr Misra also urged the operators to cut SMS charges. “I urge telecom companies to keep in mind the principle of forbearance. But forbearance has not been followed at times. I tell companies, please listen to our persuasion. The request on SMS has been pending with them for a year,” he said. Operators currently charge at the rate of Rs 1.20 per message. However, according to industry analysts, there is no cost accruing to the operator in providing this service. The regulator said that the operators should respond within a week by cutting SMS rates.

Mobile operators said that the TRAI intervention was not necessary given that tariffs are being determined through the market mechanism. “I do not think TRAI needs to prescribe any new tariffs. We are already offering the lowest tariffs in the world. There are nearly 7-8 operators in each circle which makes it really competitive,” said Mr T.V. Ramachandran, Director-General, Cellular Operators Association of India.

More Stories on : Telecommunications | Regulatory Bodies & Rulings

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line