A few days after chiefs of leading telecom companies promised the Telecom Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, solid proof on possible doubling of tariffs, telecom industry body COAI has now said it will first review and analyse TRAI’s claim of minimal hike in call rates.

“We are going to review and analyse TRAI’s calculation.

We are trying to find out what is their assumption and what is their calculation methodology that shows 1 or 2 paisa increase (in tariff) per minute,” the Cellular Operators Association of India Director-General, Mr Rajan Mathews, told PTI.

Mr Mathews was responding to a query on the status of telecom companies’ calculation to justify the claimed tariff hike of up to 100 per cent.

Leading telecom operators have said TRAI’s recommendation will result in tariff hike of 25 to 30 per cent on pan-India level and up to 100 per cent in some circles.

He added that after reviewing TRAI’s calculation, telecom service providers will send their calculation to the Telecom Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, and the DoT Secretary, Mr R. Chandrashekhar.

“Without seeing TRAI’s calculation, it will not be appropriate for us to send our calculation,” Mr Mathews said.

The Bharti Airtel Chairman, Mr Sunil Mittal, the Vodafone Chief Executive, Mr Vittorio Colao, the Idea Cellular Chairman, Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla, the Telenor CEO, Mr Jon Fredrik Baksaas, and a top ranked representative from Videocon are likely to meet Mr Sibal.

As per telecom ministry officials, the scheduled meeting is for telecom companies to present justification of their various claims including tariff hikes.

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