The Hindu Business Line : TRAI orders GSM players to link up with RCom

New Delhi, Aug. 4 The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has again directed GSM operators, including Bharti Airtel, to offer interconnection to Reliance Communication.

The telecom regulator has told GSM players that they should comply with the order within 7 days or face action.

This is the second time TRAI has told GSM operators to open up their network for Reliance Communication (RCom).

GSM operators had refused to offer interconnectivity — linking a carrier’s network with equipment or facilities of another carrier — to Reliance Communications on the grounds that the latter’s GSM network was part of a new licence and, therefore, it will have to negotiate fresh terms with the likes of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone.

TRAI has, however, held that Reliance’s GSM network was part of the unified access licence it already holds for offering CDMA-based mobile services and so there was no need for renegotiating the interconnection terms.

Without interconnection, RCom will not be able to start commercial services as a Reliance GSM subscriber would not be able to call any of the 200 million GSM subscribers of the existing operators across the country.

Soft launch in Delhi

RCom on Sunday announced soft launch of its GSM services in Delhi for some of its employees.

The move could force GSM operators to start providing interconnection before the company starts commercial services.

GSM operators had argued that as the Government’s decision to allow dual technology to RCom was under the scrutiny of the court, they were not under any compulsion to provide interconnection till the matter was cleared.

‘Not a new licence’

Reliance Communications, on the other hand, said its GSM roll-out was not a new licence and the Department of Telecom had permitted the company to offer dual technology under its existing licences.

It alleged that GSM operators were using interconnection to block its entry.

As per TRAI’s regulation, operators are required to offer interconnection to each other on mutually agreed terms within a stipulated period of time.

The regulator has now told the GSM players to comply with this regulation or face penalty.

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