‘Increased communications has a positive impact on GDP’

This has been happening in the past also but what has changed now is the rate at which the technical developments are taking place. The result is that even before a service licensee has fully realised his investment, his activity is threatened or made redundant due to technological development in another area, enabling the other licensee to overlap with the first one. This leads to disputes and often to litigation, and based on a license agreement, an implicit contract, claims are made on Government for providing compensation. There is no justification in continuing a service-wise licensing regime where fast changing technologies will invariably place burdens on the Government in the future. Hence, the present licensing regime should be replaced by a unified regime for all services and geographical areas using any technology and leaving it for the service provider to use the best technology at all times. This will also ensure the access to the best and the most cost viable technology to the consumer.

Could private players in the telecom sector be made to list out details on senior management, escalation procedures in case of need and specific exit policies for customers, as is still done by public sector players?
— Veeresh Malik

Quality of Service (QoS) is of utmost concern to TRAI. TRAI had issued a QoS Regulation in July 2000, and compliance to QoS parameters laid down in this Regulation is being monitored on a periodic basis. TRAI has appointed an independent agency for the survey of customers’ satisfaction and based on their feedback necessary corrective action to improve the Quality of Service is initiated. TRAI is definitely concerned about improvement in customer care services by various service providers. One of the issues for consideration in this regard could be giving the contact details of senior officials of private operators so that in case customer’s problem are not addressed at appropriate level, one could approach senior officials for the redressal of his complaint. Another possibility could be setting up an industry ombudsman structure. TRAI is examining these alternatives and the practice in other countries. As far as the exit policy of the customer is concerned, the Authority has decided a time frame of 60 days within which the service providers shall refund the security deposit to the subscribers. The Authority has also decided that the service providers should pay an interest at 10 per cent per annum for the delay beyond 60 days.

It has been observed that the customers do not change their service providers for fear of losing their number. TRAI is examining policies in this regard and had recently organised a seminar with international experts as speakers. It is now in the process of finalising a consultant for number portability and based on the consultant’s recommendations further action on implementation will be initiated.

I have been a cellphone user for several years and find it difficult to move from one number to another. But how did the TRAI allow WLL phones free incoming calls in 2001 and cellphones only in mid— 2003. Did you make cellphone users pay more artificially?
— G. Balasubramanian

WLL services are part of a Basic (Fixed) Services Licence wherein the incoming calls are free. In the case of cellular services, prior to TRAIs IUC Regime the Cellular Mobile Service Providers (CMSPs) were not entitled to termination charges for the calls from Fixed to Cellular and as a result the incoming calls were not free. Since May 1, 2003, (date of implementation of TRAIs IUC Regime) the CMSPs collect a termination charge for all the calls terminating in their network from the fixed/cellular network and therefore, the incoming calls are free. The termination charges have been prescribed at a level much lower than the charges paid by cellular call receiver in the earlier mobile party pays regime.

For several years cellphone users paid Rs 16.80 per minute for using their cellphones. Today these charges are around Rs 1.50 per minute. Didn’t the government dictate these rates in the tender documents way back in 1995?
— Rohitash Garg

The original cellular license prescribed a tariff of Rs 16.80 per minute till a Regulator was appointed. It was envisaged that after the appointment of a Regulator these charges would be reviewed. However, in 1999, the Government allowed the operator to move a revenue sharing regime, severely reducing the cellular operator’s entry fee. This led to further reduction of cellular tariff. Thereafter, in 2001, the Government allowed mobility to WLL, thus encouraging more competition. To compensate the cellular operators from their partial loss of business, it also reduced their revenue share and gave them some more concessions. In 2003, the Regulator further allowed a calling Party Pays Regime for all services and also did not interfere in tariffs proposed by cellular and WLL operators. The resultant severe and aggressive competition between operators led to reduction in cellular and WLL tariffs to around Rs 1.00 per minute for local calls.

Thus, the Government and the Regulator have taken positive steps in consumer interest and in the interest of growth in service. It needs to be highlighted that the growth in services leads to reduction in costs and, therefore, should put a further downward pressure on competing tariffs. The growth is already visible and whatever the mobile sector achieved as growth during the last seven years, it has now achieved in seven months — a growth of more than 12 times in comparison to earlier years. It is well known that increased communications has a positive impact on GDP and growth in GDP leads to higher tele-density. I believe that we have entered this phase in India where our growth rates are now comparable to that of China, for the first time after so many years. It also needs to be highlighted that even with present low tariffs, the operators have margin for servicing incremental customers.