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Thomas K Thomas

New Delhi, Aug. 16 GSM operators have decided to defy the telecom regulator’s directive to give links to connect Reliance Communication’s new network by August 21.

Existing players, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular have taken a stance that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s order was misplaced as Reliance Communication’s GSM service will be offered under a new network and, therefore, the commercial terms of the interconnection has to be renegotiated.

TRAI on Thursday had issued a directive asking the GSM operators including State-owned BSNL to offer links to RCom.

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

RCom had recently announced a soft launch of its GSM services in Delhi for some of its employees. RCom sources alleged that the existing operators were trying to block its entry into the GSM space by refusing interconnection.

RCom’s contention is that since the Government had allowed it roll to out GSM services under the existing unified licence there was no need to negotiate a new interconnect agreement with other operators.

This position has been ratified by the TRAI, which said that the cellular licence mandates that operators have to give links to other players within a stipulated period of time.

When contacted, Mr T.V. Ramachandran, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India, said, “We do not agree with the intervention of the TRAI in this matter. We are considering all options against the TRAI’s order.” Industry sources said that COAI is also considering legal recourse against the August 21 deadline set by TRAI.

The GSM operators’ contention is that the existing interconnect agreement with Reliance is limited to providing links for its CDMA network.

They said that TRAI’s intervention in the case is misplaced because interconnection terms were supposed to be negotiated mutually between two operators.

More Stories on : Telecommunications | Regulatory Bodies & Rulings | Corporate Disputes | Reliance Communications Ltd

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