The Hindu Business Line : Metros may be merged with State circles for mobile services

THE Department of Telecommunications is looking at the possibility of merging metro circles, except Delhi, with the respective State circle for cellular service providers in the new unified licence regime.

Currently, mobile operators need separate licence for offering services in any of the metro cities — Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

On the other hand, fixed line operators do not need a separate licence for offering fixed line telephony in Mumbai or Chennai if they hold the licence for Maharashtra or Tamil Nadu respectively. The status for Delhi will remain unchanged since the metro city is a State by itself.

The move will benefit mobile users in the three metro circles who have to pay STD rates for calling subscribers in cities within the respective States.

Currently, a Mumbai to Pune call is treated as an STD call despite the two cities being part of Maharashtra, but on the other hand a mobile user in Punjab making a Jalandhar to Ludhiana call has to pay only local call charges.

If DoT decides to push through with the proposal then a Chennai to Vellore call made on a mobile phone will become a local call.

The move will, however, have revenue implications for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, which gets a higher revenue share on STD calls. Since the metros account for over one fourth of the mobile users in the country, BSNL stands to lose the termination charge each time a mobile user makes a call to a fixed line subscriber staying outside the metro city.

Cellular operators such as Bharti Cellular will stand to benefit since it already has licence for all the three metros as well as the State circles. BPL Mobile has licences for Mumbai and Maharashtra, Aircel for Chennai and Tamil Nadu, and Essar Hutchison for Kolkata and West Bengal.

DoT officials said that the Government was working out the migration path, including entry fee for the existing operators, which have a licence either for metro or State circle.

DoT will also have to look at the issue of spectrum allocation in case the merger takes place. Currently, operators get spectrum separately for the metro and the State circles. Revenue implications for BSNL will also have to be taken into consideration before a final view is taken on the matter.

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

Stories in this Section
Metros may be merged with State circles for mobile services

Economic Survey on February 25

To meet burgeoning demand — Textile exporters seek longer working hours

Traders down shutters, demand VAT postponement

EPFO defers decision on raising additional funds

Sensex turns cautious, ends lower

Upper class Rly fares fail to cover low-end loss

Contributions to The Hindu Relief Fund